By Shittu Oluwadamilola
The latest report from NNPC Limited shows revenue of ₦5.08 trillion and a profit after tax of ₦447 billion in October 2025.
On paper, that’s a huge jump — the profit more than doubled from the ₦216 billion recorded in September.
But these figures raise more questions than they answer for ordinary Nigerians.
Crude oil output fell to 1.58 million barrels per day in October from 1.61 million in September.
Meanwhile, natural gas production rose slightly — but this increase in gas wasn’t enough to offset the fall in oil output, and overall production remains dampened by maintenance work.
So where did the profit surge come from? The report notes that the revenue figure reflects “group revenues, including inter-company transactions.”
That suggests a significant part of the revenue — and thus profit — may stem from internal accounting flows rather than new, substantive external earnings. In other words, NNPC could simply be shuffling money within its own subsidiaries and calling it profit.
Even as gas-pipeline projects like Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas Pipeline (AKK) and Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben Pipeline (OB3) are reportedly being fast-tracked, the record shows that crude production is still weak and the downstream — what actually turns crude into products like petrol — remains largely dysfunctional.
That makes it difficult to see how soaring profits can translate into cheaper fuel, stable supply, or real economic benefit for ordinary Nigerians.
If NNPC wants these profits to actually benefit the masses, the money needs to fund concrete steps: run the refineries, ensure stable fuel and gas supply, invest in infrastructure, and commit to genuine transparency. Until then, the big profit number remains just that — numbers on a page, not improved living conditions.
