By Rareview Energy Desk
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) recorded a profit after tax of ₦431 billion in August 2026, up 54.5 per cent from ₦279 billion in July, as its revenue rose to ₦3.737 trillion from ₦3.087 trillion.
The company’s August Monthly Report Summary, released on October 9, also put its cumulative revenue for January to August at approximately ₦28.54 trillion, while profit after tax for the eight-month period stood at ₦2.985 trillion.
NNPC reported statutory payments to the government of ₦9.487 trillion between January and August, including ₦1.574 trillion in August.
On production, the company reported average crude oil output of 1.434 million barrels per day (bpd) and condensate production of 254,000 bpd, bringing combined production to approximately 1.688 million bpd, or about 1.69 million bpd.
However, a comparison with production figures published separately by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) for the same month raised questions about the scope and composition of the reported volumes.
NUPRC put Nigeria’s average crude oil production, excluding condensate, at 1,500,190 bpd, while combined crude oil and condensate production stood at 1,677,777 bpd.
Although NNPC’s combined figure was about 10,223 bpd higher than NUPRC’s reported national total, the breakdown by product showed a more pronounced difference. NNPC’s crude oil figure was approximately 66,190 bpd lower than NUPRC’s crude-only figure, while NNPC reported a higher condensate volume than the 177,587 bpd implied by the difference between NUPRC’s combined and crude-only totals.
The differences raised questions about whether the figures reflected different reporting coverage, product classifications or measurement and reconciliation procedures.
To establish the basis for the differences, Rareview Energy Desk sought clarification from both organisations on how their August production figures were compiled, whether their reporting definitions and coverage were comparable, and whether the figures had been reconciled.
Responding through its Head of Corporate Communication and Media, Mr Eniola Akinkuotu, NUPRC said the two organisations had different reporting responsibilities.
“NNPC can only account for what they are producing. We (NUPRC) account for what the entire industry is producing. NNPC is just like any other company in the industry, like Shell,” Akinkuotu said.
The commission’s response emphasises the distinction between production attributable to an individual company and the output of the entire upstream petroleum industry.
However, the explanation does not, by itself, fully reconcile the specific figures published for August. In particular, the fact that NNPC’s reported combined volume is slightly higher than NUPRC’s national total means that the difference in reporting scope alone cannot be assumed to explain all the variations without further technical clarification.
NNPC had not responded to our questions at the time of publication.
The distinction matters because company-level production and national output figures serve different purposes in assessing Nigeria’s petroleum sector. National production statistics inform assessments of output trends, performance against production targets and the volumes potentially available for domestic supply and export. Company-level figures, meanwhile, help assess the performance of individual operators and their interests in petroleum assets.
For policymakers, investors and the public, confidence in such assessments depends on clear reporting definitions and an understanding of what each set of figures measures. Where different datasets are compared, their scope, treatment of condensate and measurement basis need to be established before conclusions are drawn.
NNPC’s financial performance also requires assessment within the wider context of Nigeria’s petroleum economy. Higher revenue and profit are significant corporate results, but they are not, on their own, evidence of a corresponding increase in national oil production or government earnings.
Similarly, statutory payments should be distinguished from corporate profit and assessed according to their composition and accounting treatment.
For an economy that relies heavily on petroleum for public revenue and foreign-exchange earnings, transparent and consistent production reporting is essential to evaluating the sector’s performance. NUPRC’s response provides useful context on the difference between company and industry reporting, but further clarification from both organisations would help establish the precise basis of the August figures and enable a more reliable comparison.