By Joy Baba-Yesufu
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has reported a sharp 79.6 per cent drop in profit after tax, falling from N905 billion in June to N185 billion in July.
The company’s monthly financial report, released late Thursday, showed revenue at N4.41 trillion for July, down from N4.57 trillion recorded the previous month.
The report indicates a steady decline in profitability since April, when NNPC posted N926 billion, followed by N1.05 trillion in May and N905 billion in June.
The July figures marked the steepest drop this year, even as crude oil production inched up from 1.68 million barrels per day to 1.7 million bpd. Natural gas output also rose slightly to 7.7 billion cubic feet, compared to 7.58 bcf in June.
Despite the profit slump, NNPC highlighted progress in infrastructure and strategic projects. The Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline reached 96 per cent completion, while the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) pipeline advanced to 83 per cent. The commissioned 113 km portion of the OB3 pipeline is already delivering about 300 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) of gas from producers including AHL (250 mmscf/d), Platform, Chorus, and Xenergi (50 mmscf/d).
NNPC attributed its operational focus to sustaining crude and condensate production, improving facility uptime, and driving collaboration with stakeholders to enhance efficiency. It noted that additional subcontractors had been deployed to accelerate the AKK project and a revised execution strategy was underway to fast-track the OB3 River Niger Crossing.
Between January and June, statutory payments by the company totalled N7.97 trillion.
