By Victor Eromosele
In a 2019 International Monetary Fund (IMF) F&D Report titled “National Oil Companies (NOCs) are Economic Giants,” authors Patrick Manley and David Mihalyi revealed how in their opinion “many NOCs remain opaque.” Their study revealed that 62 per cent of the NOCs reviewed exhibited “weak,” “poor” or “failing” performance in respect to public transparency. It is therefore not surprising that there is an ocean of public scepticism even when our NOC, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) does the right thing such as publishing its audited financials. Analysts, including this writer – a former CFO – sharpened their pencils to pore over the document.

The truth, however, is that were transparency and accountability a plane which – prior to 2021 when the Petroleum Industry Act created NNPCL – was firmly on the runway, there is evidence that it has taken off. When last November the Group CEO, Bayo Ojulari (appointed April 2025) released the first two full year set of audited financials, many commended the effort, but wondered whether the effort would be sustained. On September 29, 2026, the feat was repeated publishing its full set of 2025 audited financials covering activities completely under his watch. The good news is that the plane is still in flight and seems to be gaining altitude, breaking the jinx and defying the gravity of opacity. This short write-up attempts to do a quick highlight to help those who are still poring over the several pages. First, has NNPCL done well, compared with global peers and improved on the previous year? Second, how did the financial performance of Ojulari and his team in 2025, compare with his predecessor, Mele Kyari, who presided over prior years?

Given all that has happened to the naira relative to international currencies, from 2023 to date, no meaningful comparisons can be made solely using the local currency. This writer has converted the top and bottom lines across the years to fairly establish a trend. For example, the 2025 after-tax profit was N7,200 billion or $4.7 billion (converted at the relevant average exchange rate for the year).
The reader would notice that this writer avoids “trillion,” as it seemingly masks true value which most ordinary people would understand. In 2024, NNPCL posted a bottom line of N5,400 billion or $3.7 billion. Clearly, the numbers suggest a billion US dollar improvement or an increase of 27 per cent. For NNPCL shareholders, they would be smiling to the bank with a dividend payout equivalent to 80 per cent of the bottom line.

NNPCL seeks to be “a globally competitive energy company.” Out of academic interest, let us look at two international companies used last year for the same line of comparison: the Italian NOC, ENI and the smaller American IOC, Chevron. At a bottom line of $5.9 billion ENI delivered 6 per cent bottom line margin on its topline, while at $12.4bn, Chevron delivered 6.5 per cent margin on its topline.
NNPCL, at a margin of 20.8 per cent, on the other hand, delivered thrice that of its comparators. A “bullish” foreign investor looking in could be saying: “Hey, I’d rather invest in Nigeria than in the comparators. Damn the risks.” The stabilizing local currency has helped this sort of comparison. The 2025 financials indicate that Ojulari is already making good his promise of “building a high performing organisation capable of competing with the best globally.”

On the second question, both Group CEOs – who operated against different headwinds – by the books we can peruse, did well. In dollar terms, Kyari era recorded a topline of $24 billion and $31 billion in 2023 and 2024 respectively, while Ojulari recorded a topline of about $23 billion in 2025. It is remarkable though, that in 2025, despite the top line down in dollar terms by 27 per cent, the bottom line was up 27 per cent. In the three accounting periods: full years 2023, 2024 and 2025, NNPCL in dollar terms had cumulative after-tax profits of $11.7 billion. Revenues were down for most industry players in 2025, as 14 per cent of the decline may be attributable to lower oil prices relative to the prior year.
On the operational side, NNPCL should rightly celebrate an 11 per cent increase in its equity crude and condensates production, as well as its natural gas production. The NOC was glad to announce that Nigeria achieved an average oil and condensates production of 1.77 million bpd, the highest in five years, thanks to a reduction in crude theft. The Group CEO envisions and nurses the ambition of the country achieving 2.0 million bpd by next year (2027) and 3.0 million bpd by 2030. The industry shares the optimism despite an unenviable long history of missed targets. It looks like a “long walk,” considering that the country 14 years ago was already producing 2.5 million bpd before the unfortunate decline. Hence, the Group CEO got right his emphasis on “delivering sustainable performance.”

The annual report was well put together and quite informative. NNPCL is becoming conscious of the need for timely audited financials. While it must be commended for releasing them two months earlier than last year, there is room for improvement. It is still four months behind expectations based on international best practice. Transformation is not a sprint but there are good signs it has started, and it must be sustained with an eye on lofty standards. The plane of transparency and accountability is airborne. Fly higher. Bon voyage!

Eromosele is Executive Director of the energy think-tank, Centre for Petroleum Information (CPI), publishers of the authoritative reference work, Energy Insight NIGERIA (Vols 1 and 2).