Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) plans to sell a 5 percent to 10 percent stake in an initial public offering aimed mainly at domestic investors, with a possible second listing in London or New York, Bayo Ojulari, the company’s chief executive officer, has said.
Ojulari told Reuters on Tuesday that the state-owned company may also list some of its subsidiaries later, a path similar to the one taken by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. in the United Arab Emirates.
The offering would be one of the biggest in Nigeria’s history. It would open part of a company long seen as opaque to public shareholders for the first time.
Read also: Dangote Refinery prepares for early December listing on NGX after record IPO
Ojulari said the listing is meant first to improve NNPC’s transparency and governance, as Nigerian law requires. Raising money is only a secondary goal, he said.
Preparations will probably take at least all of next year, he said, which puts any share sale well beyond 2026.
Gulf state oil companies have sold slices of their businesses to outside investors while keeping operational control.
They have largely avoided opening up their main oil-producing units. Ojulari’s comments suggest NNPC may follow a similar approach, though he gave no details on which assets would be included.
The plan comes as Nigerian investors have shown strong appetite for large local offerings. The domestic IPO of the Dangote oil refinery, which closed last week, drew orders worth 6.4 trillion naira ($4.78 billion) from retail and institutional investors, according to a person involved in the deal.
That demand suggests the local market could absorb a large NNPC offering. It may also support the company’s plan to focus on Nigerian buyers before considering a foreign listing.
Read also: Stanbic Bank Botswana launches $94m IPO to sell 20% stake
Chinese interest in refineries
Ojulari also said Chinese companies have shown interest in buying equity stakes in some of Nigeria’s smaller refineries, rather than only winning repair contracts. The plants in Port Harcourt and Warri need major repairs, and neither has run at full capacity for more than a decade.
He has previously said NNPC is in talks with a Chinese engineering firm to refurbish at least one of the plants. Under any equity deal, NNPC would keep at least 10% of the project, Ojulari said.
He expects at least one of the smaller refineries to be producing again within three years at most.
What to watch
Several questions remain open, including which assets would be listed, how the shares would be priced and who would get priority in the sale. The choice between London and New York, or neither, is also undecided.
Ojulari’s timeline suggests no shares will trade before 2027 at the earliest. The listing would still mark a notable shift for a company that has long been central to Nigeria’s economy and also a frequent target of criticism over transparency.
Dipo Oladehinde is a skilled energy analyst with experience across Nigeria's energy sector alongside relevant know-how about Nigeria’s macro economy. He provides a blend of market intelligence, financial analysis, industry insight, micro and macro-level analysis of a wide range of local and international issues as well as informed technical rudiments for policy-making and private directions.
