The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited committed N473.8bn to gas infrastructure projects, including the proposed Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline, in 2025, while N25.7bn in interest on the facility remained outstanding at the end of the year.

The funding, provided to its wholly owned subsidiary, NNPC Gas Infrastructure Company Limited, was intended to meet cash call obligations for the transnational pipeline, support an equity injection into Anoh Gas Processing Company and finance the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline project.

According to NNPC’s 2025 annual financial report analysed on Sunday, N25.7bn in interest on the facility remained outstanding as of December 31, 2025. The report also disclosed that N14.4bn of the loan facility remained undrawn as of the reporting date.

The report read, “The N473.8bn loan to the NNPC Gas Infrastructure Company Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, was granted to fund the Nigeria–Morocco Gas Pipeline cash call commitments, equity injection to AGPC, and finance the AKK Pipeline Project.”

The report stated that the loan was granted to support the projects, adding that “as at 31 December 2025, N25.7bn interest is outstanding.” It also disclosed that the facility had an undrawn balance of N14.4bn at the reporting date.

The disclosure provides fresh details of NNPC’s financial commitments to Nigeria’s gas infrastructure expansion, particularly the Nigeria-Morocco pipeline, a proposed cross-border project expected to transport Nigerian natural gas through several West African countries to Morocco, with the potential to supply European markets.

The project, also known as the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline, is designed to connect Nigeria’s gas resources to markets along the West African coast. The proposed route is expected to pass through countries including Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania before reaching Morocco.

The pipeline is intended to improve regional energy access, support industrial development and strengthen gas exports. It is also expected to provide an alternative supply route to international markets while encouraging investment in gas production and infrastructure across participating countries.

However, the project requires substantial financing, cooperation among participating governments and companies, and the development of extensive pipeline infrastructure.

The NNPC report did not specify how much of the N473.8bn facility had been spent exclusively on the Nigeria-Morocco project on a day-by-day basis. The loan also covers the AKK pipeline and the equity injection into AGPC.

The AKK project is a major domestic gas transportation initiative intended to move gas from southern Nigeria to northern parts of the country, supporting power generation, industrial activities and other gas-consuming businesses.

The NNPC financial statements also showed that lending to related parties increased significantly in 2025. At the company level, loans to related parties rose to N939.253bn from N185.544bn in 2024, an increase of N753.709bn, or about 406.2 per cent.

The 2025 balance included N211.642bn lent to NNPC Energy Services Limited, N77.588bn to Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, N29.580bn to Port Harcourt Refining Company, N113.327bn to Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, and N485.173bn to NGIC.

The NGIC balance in the related-party loans table was higher than the N473.8bn facility specifically described in the report. The financial statements did not explain the difference in the figures in the supplied disclosure.

NNPC also reported a N21.943bn loan to the African Medical Centre of Excellence, an associate, while loans to related parties at the group level totalled N52.853bn. That group balance comprised N30.910bn for Anoh Gas Processing Company and N21.943bn for the medical centre.

The report further disclosed that NNPC provided N133.5bn to Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company to finance invoice payments and tax obligations associated with its Quick Fix Maintenance project. The facility had an undrawn balance of N56bn at year-end.

Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company received N104.8bn to finance tax payments relating to its own Quick Fix Maintenance project, while N26.07bn was disbursed to Port Harcourt Refining Company to settle outstanding invoices under a nine-month operations and maintenance contract for the Area 5 Plant.

The explanation for the spending read, “In 2025, the outstanding intercompany loan balance of N9,104,154,160 and N1,660,388,959.28 between NNPC Limited and NIDAS Shipping Services Limited was converted to investment on the conclusion of all legal formalities pursuant to the 2021 TMC approval.

“A loan of N133.5bn was granted to KRPC to finance invoice payments and tax obligations relating to the Quick Fix Maintenance project at KRPC. As at the reporting date, the facility had an undrawn balance of N56bn. – The loan disbursed to WRPC amounting to N104.8bn was provided to finance tax payments relating to the Quick Fix Maintenance project at WRPC. As at the reporting date, the facility had an undrawn balance of N226.9bn.”

Separately, NNPC’s outstanding loan to Enserv stood at N211.6bn at the end of 2025. The funding was intended for the Keana drilling campaign, Chad Basin re-entry activities and other three-dimensional seismic acquisition projects.

The disclosures highlight the scale of NNPC’s financial support for subsidiaries and associated companies involved in oil, gas, refining and infrastructure projects, as the national oil company seeks to expand domestic gas supply and develop new energy infrastructure.

Commenting on the NNPC’s financial performance, Petroleum economist and Professor Emeritus at the LSU Energy Institute, Wumi Iledare, said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s reported N7.2tn profit in 2025 does not, on its own, prove that the company has achieved sustainable commercial operations, calling for greater transparency in its assets, cash flows and accountability.

Iledare, who chairs the Nigeria Oil, Gas, and Energy Policy Forum in Abuja, said the company’s annual financial report should be assessed beyond its financial performance to determine whether its transformation under the Petroleum Industry Act was delivering sustainable economic value.

“These are significant results and should be acknowledged. But they do not, on their own, establish sustainable commerciality. The more fundamental questions are: What assets does NNPC Limited actually own? How productive are those assets? How much of the reported earnings has been converted into cash? How transparent is the flow of value? And who is ultimately accountable for the decisions that determine that value?” he said.

According to him, commerciality should be measured not only by profitability but also by asset productivity, capital efficiency, sustainable production, reserves replacement and operating cash flow.

“A profitable petroleum company can still face declining production, inadequate reinvestment, weak asset productivity or deteriorating cash flow. The appropriate measures must therefore include asset productivity, capital efficiency, production sustainability, reserves replacement and operating cash flow, alongside conventional profitability. The question is not simply how much NNPC earned in 2025, but whether the assets and capital employed are generating sustainable economic value,” Iledare added.

He also stressed the need to distinguish between ownership of petroleum resources and ownership of commercial assets, arguing that NNPC should have clearly identified and legally documented interests in joint ventures, production-sharing contracts, infrastructure and associated contractual rights without taking ownership of Nigeria’s petroleum resources.

On the company’s financial position, Iledare expressed concern over the reported N11.2tn receivable associated with energy-security expenditure, warning that outstanding payments could weaken the company’s ability to sustain operations despite its reported profits.

“The expenditure may have contributed to increased production and broader economic benefits, and those benefits should be recognised. But the outstanding receivable exposes a critical distinction between accounting performance and commercial sustainability: profit can be recognised before cash is collected,” he said.

He added that NNPC needed transparent reporting of receivables, credible recovery arrangements and enforceable payment terms to ensure that reported earnings translated into available cash. Iledare welcomed the company’s audited financial statements but argued that transparency should extend beyond the publication of accounts.

“The public should be able to follow the economic chain from resources and contractual rights, to assets, production, lifting, sales, revenue, costs, earnings, government payments and reinvestment,” he said.

He further cautioned against treating a proposed initial public offering as a substitute for commercial reform, saying a stock market listing could improve disclosure and accountability but should come after the company had established a clear asset base, dependable cash generation and disciplined capital allocation.

“Ultimately, Nigeria needs more than a profitable NNPC Limited. It needs an NNPC Limited capable of converting petroleum resources and productive assets into sustainable economic value while remaining transparently accountable for the national wealth entrusted to it. That, in my view, is the real test of commerciality under the PIA,” he said.