Nigeria’s state oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), has reported it posted a net profit of 5.4 trillion naira ($3.6 billion) in 2024, good for a 64% jump from a year earlier as the pivotal industry continues to make a comeback.
“The earnings highlight the positive momentum of our ongoing transformation and the unwavering commitment of our workforce,” Bashir Bayo Ojulari, NNPC Group Chief Executive, told analysts.
Nigeria has been struggling to meet its OPEC+ quota in recent years, thanks to years of underinvestment coupled with rampant theft and pipeline vandalism. Africa’s largest oil producer saw crude output average ~1.5 million bpd in 2024, well below its 1.8 million bpd target. In 2022, NNPC reported losing up to 95% of its production at the Bonny terminal to theft, driven by widespread illegal connections.
In a bid to reverse this trend, the Nigerian government has implemented various strategies and reforms under President Bola Tinubu, including enhanced security measures to protect pipelines and the operationalization of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which aims to attract necessary investment into the sector.
Thankfully, these efforts have begun to bear fruit: Nigeria’s crude production jumped from 1.1 mbpd in 2022 to 1.83 mbpd in October 2025, reclaiming its place among the continent’s top producers thanks to the government’s new laws, fiscal incentives, and efforts to combat theft and vandalism. NNPC has set a goal to increase output further to 2 mbpd in2027 and 3 mbpd by 2030.
“Nigeria’s upstream sector is evolving through a mix of collaboration, co-investments and smarter capital deployment, rather than competition. It is not just about producing more oil, it is about producing better oil: more efficient, cleaner, and more profitable. We have the capacity, and we are growing steadily while working together to reduce the strain of fossil fuels,” Udy Ntia told the News Agency of Nigeria.
By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com
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