The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has recorded a strong performance in March 2026, with profit after tax doubling to N276 billion from N136 billion in February.
According to the company’s monthly operational report released on Monday, total revenue rose to N2.77 trillion in March, representing a 3.51 per cent increase from N2.68 trillion recorded the previous month. Combined crude oil and condensate production also increased to 1.56 million barrels per day.
Federation Account remittances surged significantly to N2.88 trillion in March, a 60 per cent jump from N1.80 trillion in February.
The sharp rise in remittances is attributed to the impact of Executive Order No. 9 signed by President Bola Tinubu on February 25, 2026. The directive eliminated NNPC’s long-standing 30 per cent deductions for the Frontier Exploration Fund and upstream investment fees, mandating direct transfer of royalties, taxes, and oil and gas profits to the Federation Account.
Crude oil production stood at 1.32 million barrels per day in March, up from 1.27 million bpd in February, while condensate production remained steady at 0.24 million bpd. Gas production reached 7,731 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d), the highest monthly level in the past year.
The report highlighted the early completion of turnaround maintenance on OML 118 Bonga, operated by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, which was delivered 12 days ahead of schedule. However, production was partly constrained by a leak on the Trans Forcados Pipeline at Keremor, which caused curtailments from February 20 to March 25.
On infrastructure developments, welding on the 24-inch Gwagwalada spur of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline has been completed, with pre-commissioning activities now in progress. The OB3 River Niger Crossing drilling was also concluded in March.
Commenting on the performance, the report noted month-on-month growth across key metrics.
“Production improved compared to the previous month, driven by the early completion of the OML 118 Bonga Turnaround Maintenance,” NNPC stated.
The company, however, acknowledged the negative impact of the pipeline outage and other operational challenges, adding that restoration efforts are ongoing to improve asset reliability and evacuation capacity.
Gas production has shown consistent growth throughout the first quarter, rising from 7,281 mmscf/d in January to 7,458 mmscf/d in February and peaking at 7,731 mmscf/d in March.
