NNPCL secures N318bn to fund new oil exploration
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has received N318.05bn between January and August 2025 for frontier oil exploration, findings by SOCIETY WATCH have shown.
This is according to documents from the September 2025 Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting obtained by SOCIETY WATCH.
The deductions represent 30 per cent of Production Sharing Contract profits, which are automatically set aside each month for exploration in inland basins.
The Petroleum Industry Act 2021 created the Frontier Exploration Fund, which mandates that 30 per cent of profits from NNPC’s Production Sharing Contracts be channelled into oil search across under-explored basins, including Anambra, Bida, Dahomey, Sokoto, Chad and Benue.
Regulations also require the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission to manage the fund through an escrow account and issue an annual Frontier Basin Exploration and Development Plan.
Regulations also require the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission to manage the fund through an escrow account and issue an annual Frontier Basin Exploration and Development Plan.
Further findings by SOCIETY WATCH showed that the NUPRC in July 2025 unveiled a Frontier Basin Exploration and Development Plan detailing proposed seismic surveys, stress-field detection, data integration, and wildcat drilling across basins in Benin Dahomey, Anambra, Bida, Sokoto, Chad, and Benue.
The plan outlined work such as logging and testing of the Eba-1 well in the Dahomey basin, drilling of a new wildcat in Bida, reappraisal of Wadi wells in Chad, and reassignment of Ebeni-1 drilling in Benue.
Signed by the Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, the document stated that the outcome of these activities would determine further de-risking of assets and exploratory drilling in line with statutory requirements.
Analysis of the FAAC documents by The SOCIETY WATCH further showed that PSC profits so far this year amounted to N1.06tn, below the budgeted N1.58tn, creating a shortfall of N518.76bn.
Despite this gap, the statutory 30 per cent deduction for frontier exploration was consistently applied, month after month, producing an accumulated N318.05bn by August.
The monthly trend reveals the volatility of the fund. In January, N31.77bn was deducted into the frontier line, when PSC profits came in at N105.91bn.
The February deduction rose to N38.30bn from a profit of N127.67bn, representing a 20.6 per cent increase on the January inflow.
March provided the first big surge, with N61.49bn allocated to frontier exploration from profits of N204.96bn, a jump of 60.5 per cent on February’s figure.
