NNPC’s Receivables Drop to ₦11.2 Trillion After Energy Costs Settled

NNPC Limited’s money owed by the Federation fell by ₦6.31 trillion in 2025. This happened after settling energy security costs the Federal Government owed the company.

The company shared this information in Note 24.2 of its 2025 financial statements released last Wednesday.

A look at the statement shows total receivables from the Federation were ₦11.20 trillion at the end of 2025. This is down from ₦17.51 trillion in 2024.

Receivables from the Federation are the amounts NNPC claims the federal government owes it for expenses or payments made on behalf of the government. A big part of this is “energy security costs.” This is money NNPC spent to protect Nigeria’s oil and gas assets, which the government should cover.

The statement explains that the ₦11.2 trillion amount does not mean NNPC spent that much on security in 2025. Instead, it is what was recorded as receivable from the federation at the end of the year after settling accounts.

The drop in receivables from the federal government, compared to 2024, followed the removal of ₦8.67 trillion in energy security costs from the total. This was done by balancing it against royalties, taxes, and dividends owed to the Federation.

The financial statements showed that NNPC had an energy security cost receivable of ₦8.67 trillion at the start of 2025. However, after settling with government agencies, that amount was netted off against government obligations.

The report said the reconciliation process wrapped up in September 2025.

The company stated it did not record any energy security expense in 2025. This is a change from ₦7.13 trillion in 2024.

“During the year, no energy security expense was recognised (2024: ₦7.13 trillion). Following a reconciliation exercise with relevant government agencies, the Energy Security Cost receivables were netted off against royalties, taxes, and dividends due as at December 2024. The reconciliation exercise was concluded in September 2025,” NNPC noted in its report under note 24.2.2.

Rise in Other Receivables

While the reconciliation cleared the energy security balance, NNPC’s other receivables from the Federation grew significantly.

The records show that other receivables increased from ₦8.84 trillion in 2024 to ₦11.20 trillion in 2025. This is an increase of about ₦2.36 trillion or 26.7 percent.

The company mentioned these receivables are related to advance payments to the Federation and costs NNPC incurred in protecting the country’s oil and gas assets.

“This is under the framework of approval between the Government of Nigeria and the Group to incur security costs and charge the same to the Federation,” the financial statements said.

This information is important because it shows that even though the energy security cost was reconciled, NNPC still has a lot of money owed by the Federation.

The figures also show the financial burden of securing Nigeria’s oil infrastructure.

Oil theft and pipeline vandalism have been serious problems for Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. They cause big revenue losses, production delays, and higher costs to secure and maintain oil facilities.

In recent years, the cost to secure these pipelines has stayed high. NNPC’s energy security expense rose from ₦4.84 trillion in 2023 to ₦7.13 trillion in 2024, before the outstanding receivable was reconciled in 2025.

The arrangement with the federation allows NNPC to spend on protecting oil and gas assets and then charge those costs to the government.

This also includes the ongoing challenge of protecting oil infrastructure against crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and other issues that have affected production and government revenue.

The latest reports clearly separate energy security expenses recognized in a year from energy security-related receivables on the balance sheet.

It is clear that the ₦11.20 trillion recorded in 2025 should not be seen as fresh energy security spending during the year. Instead, it represents other receivables from the federation after reconciling the ₦8.67 trillion energy security cost receivable.

The NNPC statement did not provide a detailed breakdown of the items that make up these other receivables.

The company simply stated that: “Other receivables from the federal government relate to advance payments to the federation and the security costs incurred in protecting the oil and gas assets,” the statement noted.

This development comes as NNPC reported better crude oil production in 2025. They linked part of the improvement to better pipeline availability and efforts to tackle oil theft.

NNPC reported a profit after tax of ₦7.2 trillion in 2025. This is about a 33.3 percent increase from ₦5.4 trillion in 2024, despite lower revenue from falling oil prices and reduced sales of petroleum products.

The statement showed that crude oil and condensate production hit a five-year high of 1.77 million barrels per day. Meanwhile, domestic gas supply increased to a three-year high of 7.2 billion standard cubic feet per day.