The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has defended the performance of its Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, saying crude oil and gas production increased under his leadership.

The company’s position followed criticism from the Oil and Gas Professionals Forum (OGPF) over NNPC’s leadership and its role in the recently concluded oil licensing round conducted by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

NNPC’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Andy Odeh, said the company welcomed public scrutiny but urged stakeholders to base their assessments on verified information.

Odeh clarified that NNPC was not responsible for the allocation of oil blocks during the licensing exercise. He said the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 gives the NUPRC the statutory responsibility for conducting licensing rounds and allocating oil blocks.

According to him, NNPC has operated as a commercial entity since its incorporation and does not have regulatory or allocative powers.

The company also highlighted its production figures as evidence of improved performance.

NNPC said crude oil production, including condensate, rose from an average of 1.60 million barrels per day in April 2025 to 1.67 million barrels per day by April 2026.

The increase of about 80,000 barrels per day represents a six per cent rise in production, according to the company.

Gas production also increased during the period, rising from 7,354 million standard cubic feet per day in April 2025 to 7,729 million standard cubic feet per day in April 2026.

NNPC said the 375 million standard cubic feet per day increase represented five per cent growth and supported both domestic energy supply and the country’s gas export commitments.

The company said the production figures were contained in its publicly available monthly performance reports.

While welcoming continued scrutiny of its operations, NNPC warned against what it described as false or unsubstantiated claims about the company and its leadership.

Odeh urged industry analysts, professionals and associations to verify information through appropriate regulatory and corporate channels before making public statements.

He said the use of verified data would help promote factual and constructive discussions about the performance of Nigeria’s energy sector.