Bashir Bayo Ojulari is steering Nigeria’s state-owned oil company, NNPC Limited, through a stronger earnings cycle, with the state-owned oil company posting a record N7.2 trillion ($5.42 billion) profit after tax for 2025. Higher crude and natural gas production helped cushion lower global oil prices and weaker domestic fuel volumes after deregulation.

Ojulari, who became NNPC Limited’s group chief executive officer in April 2025, brings nearly 35 years of oil and gas experience spanning petroleum engineering, production, strategy, economics and asset management. He retired from Shell in 2021, later founded BAT Advisory and Energy Company Nigeria Ltd. and served as an executive at Renaissance Africa Energy.

The earnings result marks an early financial milestone under Ojulari, with profit after tax rising 33 percent from N5.4 trillion ($4.06 billion) in 2024, according to audited financial statements presented at the company’s annual general meeting. EBITDA climbed 22 percent to N18 trillion ($13.5 billion), while operating cash flow increased 16 percent to N12.8 trillion ($9.6 billion).

Dividend payout climbs

NNPC Limited declared a final dividend of N5.8 trillion ($4.36 billion), 35 percent higher than the previous year, as stronger earnings supported a larger distribution. Earnings per share rose 32 percent to N35.90, while return on equity improved by 200 basis points to 16 percent. The payout underscores the company’s shift toward commercial discipline.

Revenue, however, fell 24 percent to N34.5 trillion, reflecting weaker benchmark oil prices and lower white-product sales after Nigeria completed the deregulation of its domestic petroleum market in 2024. The decline highlights the changing economics of NNPC Limited, where stronger upstream output increasingly matters as downstream pricing becomes market-driven.

Oil and gas output rises

Combined crude oil and condensate production averaged 1.77 million barrels per day in 2025, the company’s highest level in five years. Total output reached 565.8 million barrels, up 5 percent from 2024, while NNPC Limited’s equity share of liquid production increased 11 percent to 223.7 million barrels.

Natural gas production also reached a three-year high, averaging 7.2 billion standard cubic feet per day and totaling 2,606.2 billion standard cubic feet, a 9 percent increase. NNPC Limited’s equity share rose 11 percent to 1,154.9 billion standard cubic feet, strengthening the company’s position across Nigeria’s gas value chain.

Infrastructure spending accelerates

Beyond production, NNPC completed the 623-kilometer Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline mainline, commissioned the ANOH-OB3 Custody Transfer Metering Station and procured 500 compressed natural gas trucks. It also introduced a Technical Equity Partnership Model aimed at attracting investment and technical capacity to Nigeria’s domestic refining assets.

NNPC became a fully commercialized, profit-driven enterprise in July 2022 under the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021, expanding its mandate across exploration, refining and distribution. In 2025, it hired 1,023 full-time employees, deployed over 1,000 graduates and increased women’s representation in leadership to 23 percent, above the industry’s 17 percent benchmark.

Ambitious targets through 2030

The company is targeting crude oil production of 2 million barrels per day by 2027 and 3 million barrels per day by 2030, alongside gas output of 12 billion standard cubic feet per day. Meeting those targets will require sustained investment across upstream assets, gas infrastructure, refining and other parts of the energy value chain.

NNPC Limited plans to mobilize $60 billion in capital investments by 2030 to support the expansion, while completing major transmission corridors including the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline, the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System and the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben pipeline. For Ojulari, the next test will be converting record earnings into durable production growth.