The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has announced a significant financial performance for March 2026, reporting a Profit After Tax (PAT) of ₦276 billion.
The company also recorded an increase in oil and gas production within the period.
According to the NNPC Limited Monthly Report Summary for March 2026 released on Monday, the national oil company recorded a Profit After Tax of ₦276 billion in March, reflecting a 102.94 per cent surge from ₦136 billion in February.
This sharp rise in profitability is attributed to a significant boost in operations and production output during the period. The report revealed that total revenue for March climbed by 3.51 per cent to ₦2.774 trillion from ₦2.68 trillion in February.
Statutory Payments to the Federation account in the first quarter of 2026 (January to March) stood at ₦2.888 trillion. This reflects a year-on-year decline when compared to the same period of 2025, when ₦5.005 trillion was recorded.
Oil and Gas Production
The report shows that Crude Oil & Condensate Production rose to 1.56 million barrels per day (bpd) in March from 1.51 million bpd in February, reflecting a 3.31 per cent month-on-month increase.
Natural gas production climbed to 7,731 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) in March from 7,458 mmscf/d in February, marking a 3.66 per cent increase in output. The report noted that it is the highest level of gas production recorded in the trailing 12-month period covered by the report.
The state-owned oil firm, however, recorded a drop in crude oil and condensate sales from 23.08 million bpd in February to 17.27 million bpd in March, representing a 25.17 per cent decrease.
Sales of gas recorded a slight increase to 5059 mmscf/d in March from 4893 mmscf/d in February.
NNPC highlighted that gas production is increasingly central to Nigeria’s energy transition strategy and operational efficiency.
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The report cites key milestones achieved by the company within the month, including the early completion of the OML 118 Bonga Turnaround Maintenance, delivered 12 days ahead of schedule, as well as the completed welding of the spur line to the Gwagwalada Independent Power Plant on the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, with drilling operations on the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) Gas Pipeline River Niger Crossing continuing as scheduled.
Operational Challenges
Despite the positive trajectory, the report noted specific operational hurdles. The company stated that the Trans Forcados Pipeline outage, resulting from a leak on the Keremor axis, negatively impacted production volumes. This led to curtailments across several assets from February 20 to March 25
Upstream pipeline availability dropped from 93 per cent in February to 76 per cent in March. Downstream petrol availability across NNPC retail stations also dropped from 58 per cent in February to 56 per cent in March.
Output versus National Production Targets
While NNPC reports its operational output at 1.56 mmbopd (including condensate), data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and OPEC provide a wider industry context.
OPEC data indicates that Nigeria’s crude oil output (excluding condensate) rose to 1.38 million bpd in March, up from 1.31 million bpd in February. Despite this increase, the country fell short of its OPEC quota of 1.5 million bpd and remains below the 2026 budget benchmark of 1.84 million bpd.
However, NUPRC recently reported that production has rebounded to as high as 1.84 million bpd at certain points in late March.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist, scholar and analyst of socioeconomic issues in Nigeria and Africa. He is skilled in energy reporting, business and economy, and holds a master's degree in Mass Communication. He can be reached via @VICTOREZEJA on X