The number on the balance sheet did not just rise. It leapt like it had been waiting for someone to notice it. NNPC Limited announced a Profit After Tax of N5.4 trillion for 2024. The report arrived with confidence and a calm voice from its Group CEO, Bayo Ojulari. Revenue stood at N45.1 trillion. Stakeholders listened closely.
The company spoke of a decade-long vision. A plan to lift crude production to three million barrels per day by 2030; to deepen gas output; to complete long-delayed pipelines that could finally connect regions instead of merely supplying them. The AKK and OB3 corridors were suddenly back on the national map.
Numbers alone do not explain the applause. Several refineries resumed their rehabilitation path, led by efforts to make Nigerian products meet global standards. Port Harcourt refinery was mentioned often. It had become the symbol of a country tired of importing what it once produced.
Ojulari sounded like a man guarding momentum. He framed the results as part of a wider transformation: commercial discipline since the Petroleum Industry Act turned NNPC into a profit-driven entity in 2022. He sounded prepared for questions about sustainability and growth.
His career helps that preparation. Over three decades across Shell, SNEPCo, and foreign assignments gave him a view of the industry from several continents. His reforms at NNPC have focused on transparency and accountability. Investors have taken note. International energy conferences now feature Nigeria with less apology.
2025 carried the momentum forward. Oil production reached its highest level in five years. CNG stations and mini LNG plants gained traction. Partnerships with global majors returned after a decade of caution. The balance sheet proved it, but the strategy explained why.
Nigeria tends to celebrate figures without asking who made them possible. This time, the figure has a face. And the face has a plan.
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