NNPC Profit Falls to ₦462 Billion Despite Higher Oil Production in May

Nigeria's state-owned oil company, NNPC Limited, reported a profit after tax of ₦462 billion for May 2026. This figure represents a ₦19 billion decrease compared to the ₦481 billion profit recorded in April. The decline occurred despite notable improvements in crude oil production, natural gas output, and pipeline availability during the month.

The company's latest monthly report summary indicates that the May profit was 3.95 percent lower than the previous month. Revenue also experienced a significant drop, falling to ₦4.335 trillion in May from ₦4.97 trillion in April. Between January and May, NNPC made cumulative statutory payments of ₦4.858 trillion to the Federation.

Although production levels increased in May, NNPC cited ongoing operational challenges. These include declining reservoir pressure, underperforming oil wells, lifting constraints, and necessary maintenance activities across several upstream assets. These issues continue to impact the company's overall performance.

Crude oil production reached a one-year high in May, averaging 1.73 million barrels per day (mbpd), with crude oil production at 1.47 mbpd and condensate production steady at 0.25 mbpd. This marks a recovery from production lows seen late last year, which were attributed to crude theft, pipeline vandalism, operational downtime, and aging infrastructure. However, production remains below target due to the aforementioned operational constraints, particularly at TotalEnergies-operated assets and issues affecting Nembe and Stardeep Agbami fields.

Natural gas production also continued its upward trend, reaching an average of 7,774 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d), the highest in the review period. This reflects Nigeria's focus on gas as a transition fuel and export commodity. Gas sales, however, saw a slight decrease to 4,921 mmscf/d compared to the previous months. Downstream operations showed mixed performance, with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) availability at NNPC Retail Limited stations at 57 percent, while pipeline operations, such as the OB3 gas pipeline (97 percent availability) and the AKK pipeline (94 percent availability), performed strongly.