The Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) revenue and profit witnessed a significant decline as oil production dropped in July.
NNPC’s profit after tax fell by 47.9 per cent to N279 billion in July 2026 from N535 billion in June.
This was contained in the NNPC Limited Monthly Report Summary for July 2026, released on Tuesday.
This sharp decline in profit was driven by a 29.7 per cent drop in revenue to N3.087 trillion in July from N4.389 trillion in June, as both crude oil and gas production and sales decreased significantly.
Weaker Production
The report shows that crude oil and condensate output fell by 2.3 per cent to 1.68 million barrels per day (mbpd) in July from 1.72 mbpd in June.
Natural gas production dropped 4.5 per cent to 7.489 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) in July from 7.841 mmscf/d in the previous month.
In a report earlier, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) attributed the decline in oil production to operational challenges experienced at the Erha and Akpo fields, which impacted production.
The NNPC report also reveals a sharp fall in sales of crude oil and natural gas in July. For crude oil & condensate, sales volume fell by 20.2 per cent to 22.53 million barrels from 28.23 million barrels. Gas sales also declined by 7.83 per cent to 4.581 mmscf/d from 4.970 mmscf/d.
Despite this dip, Nigeria still exceeded its OPEC quota of 1.5 million bpd for the third consecutive month.
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A Positive Note for Federation Accounts
Despite lower earnings, NNPC’s statutory payments to the federation increased by N1.627 trillion to N7.913 trillion in July, being the cumulative for the past seven months (January to July). This is attributed to President Bola Tinubu’s executive order limiting NNPC’s revenue-deduction powers.
The NNPC report also indicated that upstream pipeline availability was sustained at 100 per cent for the second consecutive month.
The Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline project reached 100 per cent in July from 98 per cent in June. The national oil company said pipeline pre-commissioning activities have been completed in readiness for First Gas, which was expected to happen in August 2026.
For the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline project, the company said it has reached 95 per cent completion, adding that construction and installation works were at an advanced stage to deliver early gas to Abuja in 2026.
PMS availability in NNPC retail stations nationwide dropped slightly from 53 per cent to 52 per cent.
Looking ahead, the NNPC said it is intensifying efforts to boost crude oil production by sustaining high facility uptime, strengthening preventive maintenance programmes and reducing unplanned downtime across its operations.
The company said the strategy will include optimising export operations at FEPL and Nembe EP, while accelerating the development and delivery of incremental production opportunities across its portfolio.
NNPC also plans to strengthen operational reliability at key facilities, activate tandem offloading operations at Akpo and Erha to improve export flexibility, and restore barging operations at Obodo to enhance production evacuation.
According to the company, the measures are expected to support sustained output growth and improve the efficiency and reliability of Nigeria’s crude oil production and export operations.
Victor Ezeja is a Nigerian journalist skilled in producing insightful news analyses, feature stories, and interviews that simplify complex issues and drive informed public discourse. His work combines rigorous research, balanced reporting, and compelling storytelling to highlight developments shaping industries and society. Victor, who holds a Master's Degree in Mass Communication, specializes in energy, aviation, business, and economic reporting. He can be reached via @VICTOREZEJA on X