The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has welcomed public scrutiny of its operations while defending the performance of its Group Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Bayo Ojulari, citing sustained increases in crude oil and gas production recorded under his leadership.
CDA News Nigeria gathered that the company’s clarification followed recent media reports attributed to the Oil and Gas Professionals Forum (OGPF), which had questioned the performance of NNPC’s leadership in connection with the recently concluded oil licensing round conducted by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
In a statement issued on Saturday, the company’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Andy Odeh, said NNPC remained committed to transparency and accountability and would continue to engage openly with the public on its performance and operations. However, Odeh said it was necessary to clarify the company’s actual role in the licensing round, stressing that NNPC holds no regulatory or allocative authority over the process.
According to him, the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 places the conduct of oil licensing rounds and the allocation of oil blocks squarely within the statutory mandate of the NUPRC. “NNPC Limited, since its incorporation, has operated strictly as a commercial entity and holds no regulatory or allocative authority,” Odeh said.
CDA News Nigeria reports that on production performance, NNPC pointed to publicly available data showing sustained improvement in crude oil output since April 2025. The company said average crude oil production, inclusive of condensate, stood at 1.60 million barrels per day (mbpd) in April 2025, before rising steadily through the second half of the year and stabilising at 1.67mbpd by April 2026, representing an increase of about 80,000 barrels per day, or roughly six per cent growth.
The company also reported growth in gas production over the same period, with output rising from an average of 7,354 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) in April 2025 to 7,729mmscfd by April 2026. NNPC said the 375mmscfd increase represented five per cent growth and reflected expanding gas output in support of both domestic energy security and Nigeria’s export commitments.
According to the statement, the production figures cited were also contained in the company’s publicly available Monthly Performance Report, which NNPC said underscores its ongoing commitment to transparent reporting.
While reiterating its openness to scrutiny, NNPC warned that it would take necessary steps to protect its reputation and that of its leadership against what it described as false or misleading claims. CDA News Nigeria gathered that the OGPF’s criticism forms part of a broader wave of scrutiny that has trailed NNPC’s leadership in recent weeks, with some industry stakeholders separately calling on the Federal Government to investigate the company and the NUPRC over concerns bordering on production performance, licensing transparency, and contract award practices.
The Federal Government and NNPC have consistently maintained that reforms introduced under Ojulari’s leadership, including improved reporting transparency and efforts to curb crude oil theft, have contributed to the company’s steady output growth since he assumed office in April 2025.
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