Nigeria’s state-owned oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, reported a sharp improvement in its monthly earnings in April 2026, supported by higher crude output, stronger sales volumes, and firmer revenue collections across its operations.

Profit after tax rose to N481 billion ($351 million) in April, compared with N276 billion ($201.5 million) in March. That represents an increase of about 74 percent in a single month. Revenue followed the same direction, climbing to N4.97 trillion ($3.62 billion) in April from N2.77 trillion ($2.02 billion) in March, a rise of roughly 79 percent, according to NNPC’s April 2026 operational and financial report released over the weekend.

Across the first four months of the year, NNPC said it remitted N3.71 trillion ($2.7 billion) in statutory payments to the federal government, up from N2.9 trillion ($2.1 billion) recorded in the first quarter. The figures point to stronger cash flows flowing through Nigeria’s upstream and downstream oil and gas systems during the period.

Crude output rises to 1.68mbpd

On the production side, crude oil and condensate output averaged 1.68 million barrels per day in April, compared with 1.56 million barrels per day in March. Natural gas production held steady at 7.7 billion standard cubic feet per day. Gas sales averaged 4.65 billion standard cubic feet per day, while pipeline availability in the upstream network stood at 79 percent, reflecting ongoing maintenance work and operational constraints.

Infrastructure development also moved forward during the month. The company completed a key section of the OB3 River Niger crossing using horizontal directional drilling, a technically complex phase that had delayed progress in earlier years. The segment runs roughly two kilometers beneath the riverbed and is expected to support higher gas transport capacity once fully integrated into the system.

Work also continued on the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano gas pipeline, a major domestic supply route intended to move natural gas from southern production areas toward central and northern demand centers. Together, both projects are designed to improve access to gas for power generation, fertilizer production, and industrial users, while easing long-standing bottlenecks in domestic supply.

Expansion of Nigerian crude grades

In April, NNPC also expanded its crude export slate with the first shipment of the Cawthorne crude grade to Europe. A 950,000-barrel cargo was loaded on the MT Eburones and delivered to the Netherlands on April 5. With an API gravity of 36.4, the grade sits in the light, sweet category, similar in quality to Bonny Light, and is valued by refiners seeking higher yields of petrol and diesel.

The introduction of Cawthorne follows earlier exports of Nembe and Utapate grades. Taken together, these additions reflect a gradual shift in how Nigeria markets its crude, with greater emphasis on variety and supply consistency to meet changing buyer preferences in global trade.