NNPC posts N7.2 trillion profit after tax

• Sustains Naira for crude supply to Dangote

• Remittance to government hits N22.3tr

• Refineries to operate when profitable

By Oluwayanmife Lucas

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has posted N7.2trillion Profit After Tax (PAT), rising 33 per cent in 2025 from the N5.4 trillion recorded in 2024.

The state-run oil company also said payment of Naira for crude oil supply to Dangote Refinery is still in force.

During the period under review, revenue was N34.5 trillion as earnings per share was N35.9 while royalties and other remittances to the government soared 39 per cent to N22.3 trillion.
Its Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) Bashir Bayo Ojulari disclosed this at the 2025 Audited Financial Statement Media Parley in Abuja.
He said: “The central result is clear, profit after tax rose 33 per cent, from N5.4 trillion in 2024 to 7.2 trillion Naira in 2025.

“Revenue was N34.5 trillion. We also recorded earnings per share of 35.9 Naira, while taxes, royalties and other remittances to the government rose 39 per cent to N22.3 trillion.”

The GCEO blamed revenue decline on the crude oil price crash in the period under review.
Ojulari said: “The revenue declined as crude oil price fell, as you recall, in 2025, but we also had some decline that resulted from wide product volume reduction, following the market regulation, as you know, with the removal of subsidy.”

Continuing, the NNPCL boss said the profit grew because the firm improved the way it operated and maintained discipline across its businesses.
Ojulari also attributed the profit to the blockage of revenue leakages and the stoppage of wastages. Operationally, according to him, crude oil and condensate production reached a five-year high of 1.77 million barrels per day (bpd) at its peak.

Nigerian gas supply, said Ojulari, reached a three-year high of 7.2 billion standard cubic feet per day.
He explained that the gains reflect sustained attention to company assets, infrastructure and focus on delivering visible results.

He promised to compel all NNPC debtors to settle their liabilities.

The GCEO said the national refineries will become operational when they are profitable.
He said through NNPCL technical equity partnership model significant progress has been made.
Ojulari said NNPC has undertaken a three-month intrusive onsite due diligence with over 34 of the partners’ top engineers as it now looks forward to completing the report with the same objective of having profitable and sustainable plants.

He said: “And we are now looking at concluding that report. And the objective remains the same.
“What we want going forward is to have a refinery that is self-sustaining, that is profitable and is sustainable. And that’s what we’re looking for. We believe that in the not too distant future, we will be able to define that pathway forward.

“We learned a lot through those onsite visits. And I think we are more confident that we will have a pathway very soon in terms of how to bring those refineries back to sustainable and profitable operation. Our ambitions are specific and measurable.”

He said the partners, who are Chinese, are reviewing the refineries at no cost to Nigeria.
The model is to involve them in the equity of the refineries for them to be committed with the spirit of ownership.
He recalled that he visited China where he toured their petrochemicals plants that operate at 100 per of their design capacity.

The NNPCL boss announced that the Ajaokuta Kaduna Kano (AKK) gas pipeline has been completed with all the weldings.

He revealed that the project is at the stage of fixing the connections at Abuja, Ajaokuta and Kaduna.

He stressed that the main line has been done as NNPCL is now focusing on the impact of the project on the society.

Ojulari added: “The impact starts when gas starts going to power or going into the industry. “And that is why you probably notice we have been a little bit quiet recently because the next milestone is to say gas is flowing and we are seeing gas transmitting into more jobs, more opportunities.”

The GCEO also revealed that the OB3 line, that is the Obiapu, Obiropo and Oben gas pipeline has been grappling with a lot of challenges over several years.

According to him, NNPCL is yet to fix a timeline for its Initial Public Offer (IPO) as the decision is at the instance of the shareholders.
On how to achieve 3million barrels per day in 2030, he recalled that this year, NNPCL signed a new $15 billion to $21 billion Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for Bonga Southwest that is meant to enable final investment in decisions maybe by 2028.

He also cited an example of the Bonga North FID in late 2024 among other projects that would result in the attainment of 3 million barrels per day production.

Speaking on the Naira for crude supply to Dangote, Ojulari said: “Crude supply obligation to Dangote team, yes, still going on. We still deliver the crude in naira and then crude in dollar.”
He added that the arrangement for the supply of crude oil in Naira is for limited cargoes.
Ojulari stressed that NNPCL also supplies extra cargo to the refinery in dollars
“And let me also explain that, very important, because I know a lot of questions have come. We have a commitment to supply crude in naira, for a specific number of cargoes, typically. But also the extra crude that is available, we only supply in dollar,” he said.

Ojulari also explained that crude oil is sold in dollars because all the contracts in the industry are in dollars.

The NNPCL boss said: “The reason for that is that our commitments are in dollar. The rigs that are drilling for us, we pay them in dollars. The projects that we install, we pay in dollars.”
According to him, it does not make sense selling crude oil in Naira to purchase forex to pay in dollars instead of selling it directly in the same currency it is vended internationally.
NNPCL accepts Naira for crude from Dangote because the Federal Government approved it, he said.
Aside from that approval, Ojulari stressed that all other crude oil transactions are in dollars.

He said: “Our cash home to our operators are paid in dollars. So there’s no point receiving naira and then going to send that bank or somewhere to then buy dollar to pay, right?

“So that is the reason that you see that apart from the crude to naira, which was approved by federal government, we maintain that, right?

“For all the other transactions we do are in dollar because our commitments are in dollar as well. So that’s why, otherwise, we would have probably done more, right?

“But what it would mean is that we would do that and then go and buy dollar to pay for our own commitments.”

The GCEO said the cost of crude oil production responds in direct proportion with the rise its price.
Ojulari also confirmed that Nigeria is still servicing the project Gazelle, which is the crude oil backed forward -sale finance facility.
“I think the other quick one is around, you talked about Project Gazelle, and specifically Project Gazelle is still on.”