Special Reports

NNPC records decline in oil, gas output in July as disruptions hit operations

The decline in production came despite NNPC’s ongoing efforts to improve output and sustain operational efficiency across its assets.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) recorded a decline in crude oil and condensate production in July, with output falling to 1.68 million barrels per day (mbpd) from 1.72 mbpd recorded in June.

The July figure represents a 2.3 per cent month-on-month decline, driven largely by lower crude oil production.

A review of the production data presented in the report showed that crude oil output fell to 1.44 mbpd in July, from 1.47 mbpd in June, while condensate production declined to 0.24 mbpd from 0.25 mbpd.

NNPC attributed the decline to a combination of operational disruptions across several assets, facility outages, equipment unavailability, pipeline incidents and other production constraints.

“July crude oil production was affected by a combination of operational disruptions across several assets, including facility outages, equipment unavailability, pipeline incidents, and production constraints,” the report stated.

Natural gas production also declined during the month, falling from 7,841 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) in June to 7,489 mmscf/d in July, representing a 4.5 per cent drop.

Similarly, gas sales fell by about 7.8 per cent, from 4,970 mmscf/d in June to 4,581 mmscf/d in July, according to the report.

The decline in production came despite NNPC’s ongoing efforts to improve output and sustain operational efficiency across its assets.

NNPC reported ₦3.087 trillion in revenue and ₦279 billion in profit after tax for July.

The figures represent significant declines from the ₦4.389 trillion revenue and ₦535 billion profit after tax reported in June.

The company also reported that its statutory payments from January to July stood at ₦7.913 trillion.

The report showed strong availability across some key gas infrastructure, with the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline recording 100 per cent availability. In comparison, the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline recorded 95 per cent.

NNPC said construction and installation works on the AKK pipeline had reached an advanced stage, with early gas delivery to Abuja expected in 2026.

For the OB3 pipeline, the company said pre-commissioning activities at the Niger River Crossing were complete, with first gas expected in August 2026.

However, PMS availability across NNPC retail stations stood at 52 per cent during the month.

NNPC said its production improvement strategy would focus on sustaining high facility uptime through effective preventive maintenance, minimising unplanned downtime, optimising export operations and unlocking incremental production opportunities.