By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja
The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Engr. Bayo Ojulari, has disclosed that the company remitted N19.5 trillion to the Federation Account between April 2025 and June 2026.
Speaking at the 2026 Nigeria Oil and Gas Energy Week in Abuja on Tuesday, Ojulari said the company also achieved $3.4 billion in cost savings during the period through contract restructuring and optimisation.
According to him, oil production increased by six per cent year-on-year to 569.7 million barrels, while gas production rose by 8.1 per cent to 2.576 billion standard cubic feet.
He said NNPC recorded an average recovery rate of 98 per cent across its five crude oil export terminals between April 2025 and May 2026, compared with operational lows of about one per cent at the Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal in June 2022.
Ojulari further disclosed that Nigeria’s crude oil production had risen to 1.71 million barrels per day, the highest level in five years, while NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL) achieved a record production of 365,000 barrels per day.
He added that gas production had increased to 7.5 billion standard cubic feet per day, driven by the completion of the River Niger crossing on the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline and the commissioning of the ANOH Gas Processing Plant.
The NNPC boss also said the company maintained 100 per cent compliance with Joint Venture cash call obligations throughout 2025 and up to June 2026, while continuing efforts to support Nigeria’s target of producing two million barrels of crude oil per day.
In her keynote address, the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, said ongoing energy sector reforms were restoring investor confidence, with more than $10 billion in Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) secured over the past three years and over $50 billion in investments currently in the project pipeline.
She said the Federal Government was repositioning Nigeria as a competitive destination for global energy investment through regulatory reforms, fiscal incentives and improved policy certainty.
Verheijen stated that the government aims to raise crude oil production to three million barrels per day and gas production to 10 billion standard cubic feet per day by the end of the decade.
She noted that contracting timelines had been cut by more than half, fiscal terms clarified, regulatory oversight streamlined and targeted incentives introduced to attract investment.
According to her, the Presidential Power Sector Financial Reforms Programme is expected to strengthen confidence in the electricity value chain by addressing legacy debts and improving payment discipline across generation, gas supply and financing.
She also highlighted efforts to expand domestic gas utilisation through reforms designed to boost LPG supply, improve market transparency and support industrialisation via gas-powered electricity, fertiliser production, petrochemicals, compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the Federal Government was repositioning Nigeria’s natural gas resources to drive economic growth.
He said reforms, including the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and presidential executive orders, had improved regulatory certainty, shortened contracting timelines, introduced fiscal incentives for gas development and enhanced the commercial viability of deepwater gas projects, leading to renewed investor confidence and fresh Final Investment Decisions.
Ekpo noted that Nigeria’s proven gas reserves of 215 trillion cubic feet, the largest in Africa, provide a strong foundation for industrialisation through power generation, fertiliser production, petrochemicals, transportation and clean cooking under the Decade of Gas initiative.
He said the government was accelerating key infrastructure projects, including the AKK and OB3 gas pipelines, expansion of gas processing facilities and the Nigeria LNG Train 7 project, which is expected to increase the country’s LNG production capacity from 22 million to 30 million tonnes per annum upon completion.
The minister added that the administration was expanding domestic gas utilisation through the National Clean Cooking Programme, which targets five million households by 2030, and the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative aimed at reducing transportation costs.
He also said Nigeria was advancing regional gas infrastructure projects, including the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, the Africa-Atlantic Gas Pipeline and the Nigeria-Equatorial Guinea Gas Pipeline, to strengthen energy security and economic integration across Africa.
