The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited generated revenue of N2.68tn from its operations in February 2026, a 4.2 per cent rise from the N2.57tn recorded in January, but the national oil company's profit after tax plummeted by 64.67 per cent to N136bn, down sharply from N385bn the previous month, as crude oil production dipped and statutory remittances to the Federal Government surged to historic levels.
Details of the company's February monthly report, released on Saturday, showed that the dramatic fall in profit was largely driven by a presidential directive removing the 30 per cent retention on profit from oil and gas, which triggered a massive increase in remittances to the Federation Account. As a direct consequence, NNPC's remittance to the Federal Government shot up by 148.48 per cent, climbing from N726bn in January to N1.804tn in February, underlining the company's growing importance as a fiscal pillar of the Nigerian state even as operational challenges continue to dog its upstream operations.
On the production front, crude oil and condensate output fell from 1.64 million barrels per day in January to 1.51 million barrels per day in February, with crude oil accounting for 1.27 million barrels per day and condensate contributing the balance of 0.24 million barrels per day. The company attributed the decline to a combination of disruptions that struck several key upstream assets during the month, including an outage on the Trans Forcados Pipeline caused by integrity issues, start-up difficulties at the Stardeep Agbami Gas Treatment Centre following the completion of turnaround maintenance, delays in completing the Sterling Oguali flow station, and production ramp-up constraints from Enyie wells arising from sludge management problems.
"February production performance was impacted by the combined effect of the outage of the Trans Forcados Pipeline due to integrity issues, start-up challenges of Stardeep Agbami GTC 2 and 3 following completion of turnaround maintenance, delayed completion of the Sterling Oguali flow station, and production ramp-up constraints from Enyie wells due to sludge management issues, among other operational challenges," the company stated in the report.
Despite the decline in crude output, gas production remained a relative bright spot, rising to 7,458 million standard cubic feet per day, one of the highest levels recorded in recent months. Gas sales stood at 4,893 million standard cubic feet per day on a two-month lag basis, slightly below the peak figures recorded in the middle of 2025. Total crude oil and condensate sales for February stood at 23.08 million barrels, lower than the 28.64 million barrels recorded in October 2025, reflecting both production shortfalls and evacuation constraints that have persistently hampered Nigeria's ability to fully monetise its hydrocarbon resources.
On the downstream side, the report raised fresh concerns about fuel availability, with Premium Motor Spirit availability at NNPC Retail Limited stations dropping to 58 per cent during the month, a figure that signals potential supply tightness across parts of the country and could fuel anxieties about fuel queues if not addressed promptly.
On infrastructure, the company reported encouraging progress on two strategic gas pipeline projects. The Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline reached 93 per cent completion, with construction and installation works targeted at delivering early gas supply to Abuja and the northern corridor advancing steadily. The Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben gas pipeline project recorded 96 per cent completion, with drilling operations continuing in collaboration with relevant stakeholders. Upstream pipeline availability was put at 93 per cent for the month, reflecting relative stability across portions of the network despite the disruptions recorded.
The company pledged to strengthen production resilience and restore output through improved asset reliability, faster resolution of evacuation constraints, timely delivery of critical infrastructure and deeper collaboration with operators and other stakeholders. The report noted that all figures remain provisional and subject to reconciliation with relevant parties.
0 Comments