The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) recorded a sharp decline in profitability in July 2026, as NNPC profit fell by 47.9 per cent month-on-month to N279 billion from N535 billion in June. The drop came alongside weaker revenue and lower crude oil and natural gas production, making July one of the company’s weaker monthly performances in recent months.
NNPCL’s revenue also slipped significantly, falling from N4.389 trillion in June to N3.087 trillion in July, representing a decline of about 29.7 per cent. The company’s July profit was only slightly above the N276 billion recorded in March, highlighting the extent of the slowdown after stronger financial performances in the preceding months.
The weaker earnings were closely linked to lower hydrocarbon production and sales. Crude oil and condensate production averaged 1.68 million barrels per day in July, down from 1.72 million barrels per day in June, while natural gas production declined by 4.5 per cent to 7,489 million standard cubic feet per day. NNPCL attributed the production decline to facility outages, equipment challenges, pipeline incidents and other operational constraints.
Crude oil and condensate sales also fell sharply, dropping from 28.23 million barrels in June to 22.53 million barrels in July, a decline of about 20.2 per cent. Gas sales similarly decreased to 4,581 million standard cubic feet per day from 4,970 mmscfd. Despite the weaker revenue and profit figures, NNPCL said statutory payments to the Federation Account increased, with cumulative payments reaching N7.913 trillion between January and July 2026, up N1.627 trillion from the January-to-June figure.
Looking ahead, NNPCL said it would focus on improving production and protecting future earnings by maintaining high facility uptime and reducing unplanned downtime. The company highlighted preventive maintenance, optimisation of export operations, new production opportunities and the restoration of barging and tandem offloading operations as part of its efforts to strengthen output and improve performance.
source: vanguard
