Kyari: NNPC will soon be ready for IPO

By Abubakar Yunusa Abuja

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it will soon launch an initial public offering (IPO).
Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer (GCEO), NNPC, spoke at the Nigeria Oil and Gas Energy conference in Lagos.
An IPO is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors.
On July 19, 2022, the national company transitioned from a state-run oil corporation to a commercial venture, in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Kyari had said the company would be ready to launch an IPO by mid-year 2023.
Speaking on Tuesday, he assured that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is dedicated to actualising the company’s goal.
“We will go to the market and this is going to happen soon. This is the new direction, and I can confirm to you that Mr President is completely committed,” Kyari said.
Kyari said the national oil company is not obstructing divestment negotiations and has no plans to halt any such transactions.
He said rather than obstructing transactions, the NNPC is now a competitor.
“New players are coming in and I share the sentiment. But sentiment does not close deals, it is engagement that is clearly targeted at closing deals. For some of them, so that we do not go with speculation, NNPC is not blocking any deal. We are the competition,” he said.
“On the Shell divestment, we are supporting them to resolve it. We want to see more private-sector companies walk in. There are assets we will not come in. We will not walk in; we will not participate as a matter of very functional, considered, business decision.
“Secondly, we have to work together to see how we can build our gas infrastructure. We will lead as a business, not support, because we know we will make money from it. We are saving the numbers and we will complete our project.”