PREVIEW
Funding disputes intensify alongside the better oil company results
The state owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has had its wings clipped by President Bola Tinubu’s plans to cut to 20% the share of profits that the NNPC retains for running costs and exploration before submitting the remaining revenues to the federal government account (AC Vol 66 No 18, Tinubu moves to rein in the NNPC, slashing funds for northern states).
But its chief executive Bashir Bayo Ojulari has hit back with his demands for funding to expand oil and gas operations to achieve the government’s goal of boosting output.
The NNPC’s ‘Gas Master Plan 2026’ published in January, concluded that the country will require about US$22 billion in investment to expand its gas pipeline infrastructure. It also promised to be able to sell 80% of gas produced by 2030 compared to current levels of 60%.
Last week, the NNPC published post-tax profits of 5.76 trillion naira ($4.26bn) for 2025. The NNPC has not produced comparative figures for 2024 but the recorded average crude and condensate output of 1.62 million barrels per day, is lower than the 1.84m barrels per day at a price of $64.85/barrel that underpins the forecasts in the 2026 federal budget (AC Vol 67 No 3, Tinubu gambles heavily on ‘fairer’ taxes).
Ojulari set out ambitious plans at the International Energy Week events in London last week, principally via the Morocco–Nigeria gas pipeline project, alongside the expansion of the West African Gas Pipeline. He added that the NNPC was in talks with a Chinese firm over a potential partnership involving one of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries.
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