NNPC's chief executive, Bayo Bashir Ojulari, says the company has "done the baseline assessment" and is now addressing gaps advisers pointed out, including changes to certain reporting setups and governance frameworks. The aim, in his words, is to put those fixes in place "to be IPO ready as as soon as possible."
Because NNPC spans so many lines of business, Ojulari flagged that how it lists will be a strategic call. He said the company may choose to float specific units across upstream operations, pipeline networks, refining, crude trading and retail. "There are some things that cannot even be IPOed," he said. "You have to decide whether you do a portfolio rationalization on them, consolidate them, or, you know, exit those items when that time comes."
For half a century, NNPC dominated Nigeria's oil patch. Then Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest person, built a 650,000 barrel a day refinery in Lagos, lifting capacity to 700,000 barrels per day. That state-of-the-art plant is running flat out and selling fuel abroad, in stark contrast to NNPC's four state-run refineries, which are largely defunct.
Dangote has moved to list the refining venture, targeting $1.6 billion to expand the present plant to twice its size and to construct a comparable site in Kenya. When the sale opened in mid-September on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, interest from local investors surged so hard that trading apps crashed. Separately, top officials have publicly backed an NNPC listing, with Vice President Kashim Shettima the latest to call for it on Oct. 7.
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Ojulari noted NNPC's footprint runs across the entire oil value chain, which makes it hard to stack up against a single refinery. Beyond the listing question, NNPC manages Nigeria's equity in joint ventures with both domestic and foreign oil and gas producers. Bloomberg has reported the company is considering selling as much as 30% of those JV stakes, and Ojulari said he expects a decision early next year.
After wrapping a portfolio review, NNPC is weighing proposals that demonstrate strategic and technical chops from existing partners and overseas investors, including banks. The company is working toward the president's goal of reaching 3 million barrels a day within four years. According to the regulator, liquids output was 1.7 million barrels a day in September. "The most important thing is to diversify quickly to accelerate our goals" in the upstream, he said. "We are doing a lot of other collaborations also in the gas space, the midstream."
If NNPC lists, it would crack open a rare window into one of Africa's most important energy players and could widen everyday access to Nigeria's oil economy. Keep an eye on three levers: whether NNPC floats select units or the parent, whether it moves ahead with a potential sale of up to 30% of its JV holdings with a decision anticipated early next year, and how production tracks toward that 3 million barrels a day target. Together, those shape potential valuation, cash generation and how much the public can actually own.
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