The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) intends to offer between 5 percent and 10 percent of its shares in an initial public offering weighted toward Nigerian investors, with a secondary listing in London or New York left open, chief executive Bayo Ojulari said on Tuesday, according to Businessday NG.
Ojulari, who spoke to Reuters, said the state-owned firm could also float some of its subsidiaries at a later stage, a route Businessday NG compared to the one taken by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. in the United Arab Emirates.
The sale, if completed, would rank among the largest ever staged in Nigeria and would give outside shareholders a stake in a company that has historically operated largely out of public view.
Why it matters
Ojulari framed the listing primarily as a governance measure rather than a fundraising exercise. He said Nigerian law obliges the company to improve transparency and corporate oversight, and that bringing in public shareholders serves that goal first; raising capital is a secondary aim, Businessday NG reports.
That ordering matters for how the offer is likely to be judged. NNPC sits at the center of Nigeria's economy and has drawn repeated criticism over how openly it accounts for its operations. A share sale would subject at least part of the business to disclosure duties and shareholder scrutiny for the first time.
The plan also tests whether the domestic market can absorb an offering of this scale. Businessday NG reports that the Dangote oil refinery's local IPO, which closed last week, attracted orders totaling 6.4 trillion naira, or about $4.78 billion, from retail and institutional buyers, citing a person involved in the transaction. That level of demand is the clearest signal yet that Nigerian investors are willing to commit large sums to big local listings, and it underpins Ojulari's preference for selling at home before looking abroad.
A timeline that stretches past 2026
Investors should not expect shares to change hands soon. Ojulari said preparations will likely consume all of next year, which places any sale beyond 2026 and, by his account, no earlier than 2027.
Several structural questions are also unresolved. Businessday NG notes that the company has not said which assets would be bundled into the offering, how the shares would be priced, or which buyers would receive priority. The choice between a London and a New York listing — or neither — has also not been made.
The subsidiary route Ojulari raised echoes the approach of Gulf state oil producers, which have sold minority interests in parts of their businesses to outside investors while retaining operational control, and have generally kept their core producing units closed to outsiders. His remarks suggest NNPC may move in a similar direction, though he did not specify which holdings might be carved out.
Chinese interest in the refineries
Separately, Ojulari said Chinese companies have expressed interest in taking equity positions in some of Nigeria's smaller refineries, rather than only bidding for repair work. The plants at Port Harcourt and Warri require substantial rehabilitation, and neither has operated at full capacity in more than a decade, according to Businessday NG.
Ojulari has previously said NNPC is negotiating with a Chinese engineering firm to restore at least one of the facilities. Under any equity arrangement, he said, NNPC would retain no less than 10 percent of the project. He expects at least one of the smaller refineries to be back in production within three years at the outside.
What to watch
The immediate signals to track are the asset list behind the IPO, the pricing structure and any decision on an overseas venue — none of which has been settled. On the refining side, the test is whether talks with Chinese partners move from interest to a signed equity deal.
