The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has announced a 28 per cent or N749 billion growth in profit to N3.297 trillion for the financial year ending December 2023 from the N2.548 trillion recorded in the 2022 financial year.
At a world press conference held at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Monday, the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Mr. Umar Ajiya, said the release of the AFS is a testament to the Company’s commitment to transparency and accountability.
Mr Umar Ajiya, said N2.1 trillion is the final dividend for the period under review.
“Our fiscal performance reflects both strategic foresight and operational resilience. Despite inherent challenges of our operational and economic environment, we have improved the productivity and the financial performance of this great company,” Mr Ajiya stated.
Ajiya added that posting such impressive returns demonstrates NNPC Limited’s commitment to sustaining profitability and supporting the attainment of national energy security as stipulated by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 and, by extension, as expected by the Company’s shareholders.
Explaining that the NNPC Ltd. will announce its Initial Public offer (IPO) once the shareholders and Board decide, Ajiya also debunked claims on subsidy payment, saying the Company was only taking care of PMS importation shortfall between it and the Federation.
Speaking earlier at the press conference, the Chairman of the NNPC Ltd. Board, Chief Pius Akinyelure said that the excellent performance came as the fruit of the PIA 2021, and the commitment of the Board, Management and staff of the company.
“The excellent performance came as the fruit of the PIA 2021, the commitment of the Board, Management and staff of the company,” he said.
Akinyelure added that the company’s shareholders have since approved a final dividend of N2.1trn in line with PIA 2021 provisions.
In her remark, the Executive Vice President for Upstream, Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said the NNPC has also set an ambitious target of reaching 2 million barrels per day in crude oil production by the end of December 2024.
She attributed this goal to recent improvements in tackling crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
“With improvements witnessed as a result of the renewed vigour in the war against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, NNPC Ltd is targeting 2 million barrels per day crude oil production by the end of the year,” she stated.
Further analysis will be done when the financial statement is made public by the NNPC.
Regarding the current fuel queues in parts of Lagos and the FCT, the Executive Vice President of Downstream, Mr. Dapo Segun, appealed for understanding from Nigerians, saying that the Company is working with relevant stakeholders to address the distribution, evacuation, and logistics challenges.
It will be recalled that in 2021, NNPC declared a profit in its operations for the first time. From a loss position of N803bn in 2018, it reduced the loss further to N1.7bn in 2019.
However, in 2020, it posted its ‘first ever’ profit of N287 billion. Then, in 2021, it recorded a profit of N674.1 bn. In 2022, the profit grew to N2.548trn, an unprecedented achievement in its financial performance. The N3.297trn profit declared for 2023 is the highest since the Company’s inception, 46 years ago.