The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) recorded a modest revenue recovery in February 2026, posting a 4.2 percent increase to N2.68 trillion, up from N2.57 trillion in January.

Besides, data from the company’s February Monthly Report Summary released yesterday showed that crude oil production declined sharply due to renewed infrastructure constraints, falling to 1.51 million barrels per day in February from 1.64 million bpd in January. This indicated a 7.9 per cent month-on-month drop.

According to the data, profitability weakened significantly, with Profit After Tax (PAT) dropping to N136 billion in February from N385 billion in January, representing a steep 64.7 per cent decline.

This suggested that despite higher revenue, cost pressures and operational inefficiencies may have adversely impacted the margins of the national oil company.

Conversely, statutory payments to the federation rose sharply to N1.804 trillion in February, compared to N726 billion in January. This marked an increase of approximately 148.5 per cent, indicating a significantly higher fiscal contribution despite the decline in profitability.

The Improvement came after a steep 46.7 per cent revenue drop recorded in January, suggesting a partial stabilisation in earnings, but still below the N4.82 trillion peak seen in December 2025.

However, the NNPC attributed the February production shortfall to the outage of the Trans Forcados Pipeline (TFP) due to integrity issues, as well as start-up challenges at the Agbami Gas Turbine (GTC) 2 and 3 facilities following turnaround maintenance. Additional delays at the Sterling Ogualli flow station and ramp-up constraints at Enyie wells, it said, further weighed on output.

“February production performance was impacted by the combined effect of the outage of the Trans Forcados Pipeline (TFP) due to integrity issues; start-up challenges of Stardeep Agbami GTC 2 & 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,” it stated.

In contrast, gas production maintained its upward trajectory, rising to 7,458 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) in February from 7,283 mmscfd in January. This represented a 2.4 per cent increase, building on the 5.3 per cent growth recorded in January.

Gas sales also improved slightly, climbing to 4,893 mmscfd in February from 4,978 mmscfd in January, reflecting a marginal 1.7 per cent decline and suggesting some moderation in offtake despite higher production.

Overall, operational efficiency indicators showed mixed movements. Upstream pipeline availability declined to 93 per cent in February from 96 per cent in January, due to the impact of the TFP outage.

Similarly, the completion level of the much-talked-about Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline edged up slightly to 93 per cent from 92 per cent in January, while the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) pipeline remained at 96 per cent.

Also, retail performance improved modestly, with petrol availability at NNPC retail stations rising to 58 per cent in February from 54 per cent in January, suggesting a slight easing in downstream supply constraints.

A comparison of other trends indicated diverging trajectories between oil and gas segments. While crude oil production fluctuated within a narrow band and remained highly sensitive to infrastructure reliability, gas output showed more consistent growth.

The company also said It maintained its social investment efforts through the NNPC Foundation. While January featured a large-scale financial literacy programme reaching nearly 80,000 NYSC members nationwide, it stated that February activities focused on reproductive health awareness campaigns in secondary schools, alongside broader corporate social responsibility engagements.

“(NNPC Foundation) undertook a reproductive health awareness campaign to public girls’ secondary schools in Jos, Plateau State, and socialized the NNPC brand by distributing branded boxes of essential sanitary items to support the girls’ better management of their menstrual health.

“(It also) publicised NNPC’s CSR and social investments across Nigeria at the NIPR Reputation Roundtable in Abuja, socialised the NNPC brand and showcased it as Africa’s most responsible organisation in the social intervention space,“ the company stated.

However, the NNPC stated that all production, sales, and financial figures it announced were provisional and subject to reconciliation with relevant stakeholders. (THISDAY)

Update news