The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) recorded a 28.3 per cent decline in revenue in the first nine months of 2026, despite an improvement in its September earnings and hydrocarbon production.
The state-owned oil company generated N33.15tn between January and September 2026, compared with N46.26tn recorded in the corresponding period of 2025, representing a shortfall of N13.11tn.
Despite the decline in revenue, NNPC remitted N11.14tn to the Federation Account as statutory payments during the nine-month period.
An analysis of the company's monthly financial reports showed that its revenue performance remained below the previous year's figures for most of the period, although earnings improved towards the end of the third quarter.
The figures were contained in NNPC's September 2026 Monthly Operations and Financial Report released on Tuesday.
In September, the company generated N4.608tn, representing a 23.3 per cent increase from the approximately N3.74tn recorded in August.
Its profit after tax also rose by 18.1 per cent to N509bn in September, compared with N431bn in the preceding month.
The September revenue performance was the company's strongest monthly showing since April, when it generated almost N5tn. However, the improvement was not enough to offset the losses accumulated in the preceding months.
A breakdown of the 2026 figures showed that NNPC generated N2.571tn in January, N2.680tn in February and N2.774tn in March.
Revenue subsequently climbed to N4.971tn in April before declining to N4.335tn in May and N4.389tn in June. The company recorded a further drop to N3.087tn in July before recovering to N3.737tn in August and N4.608tn in September.
The performance represents a significant decline from the corresponding period of 2025, when the company recorded N3.824tn in January, N6.624tn in February and N5.475tn in March.
It generated N5.891tn in April and N6.008tn in May, while revenue stood at N5.105tn in June, N4.406tn in July and N4.655tn in August. September earnings were recorded at N4.269tn.
The combined revenue for the first nine months of 2025 stood at approximately N46.257tn, significantly higher than the N33.152tn generated during the same period this year.
The latest figures come against the backdrop of NNPC's 2025 full-year financial performance, which showed that revenue declined by 24 per cent to N34.5tn from N45.1tn in 2024.
However, the company recorded an improvement in profitability during the period, with profit after tax rising by 33 per cent to N7.2tn from N5.4tn.
Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation also increased by 22 per cent to N18tn.
Meanwhile, NNPC's statutory payments to the Federation Account stood at N11.14tn between January and September 2026, representing a 17.4 per cent increase from the N9.49tn reported at the end of August.
The September contribution added approximately N1.65tn to the cumulative payments recorded in the preceding month.
A comparison with the company's 2025 monthly reports showed that it remitted approximately N11.56tn to the Federation Account between January and September last year.
This indicates that statutory payments in the first nine months of 2026 were about N417bn, or 3.6 per cent, below the corresponding figure for 2025.
The statutory payments represent NNPC's financial contributions to the Federation Account and are distinct from its total revenue and profit.
On the operational front, the company reported an improvement in total hydrocarbon production, which rose to 3.04 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in September from 3.01 million barrels per day in August.
Crude oil and condensate production stood at 1.70 million barrels per day, while natural gas production increased to 7,789 million standard cubic feet per day from 7,680 million standard cubic feet per day in August.
The production figures indicate a modest improvement in the company's operational performance, even as its financial results point to continued pressure on revenue generation.