THE Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation will be able to issue its Initial Public Offer to investors in the next three years.
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, made the disclosure during an interview on Bloomberg TV Global Financial News on Monday.
This announcement is one of the outcomes of the Petroleum Industry Act recently signed on the state-owned corporation in the global market.
Speaking on the impact of the PIA on the NNPC, Kyari said the corporation would now be operated in line with the Companies and Allied Act.
He, however, stated that the NNPC may not be able to offer its shares to the public by 2022 or 2023 due to certain bottlenecks that had lingered over the years.
“We will be in the position to consider any IPO in three years’ time; that is the provision of the law,” Kyari said.
“But when you want to get ready for IPO, you need to do things different. You need to get your books correct; you need to recapitalise; you need to shape your portfolio and many more things that you have to do until you get IPO ready.
“Surely, it is not what we will do in 2022 or 2023; probably the earliest consideration will be in three years’ time.”
Recall that the corporation declared a profit of N287b in 2020, the first time the oil giant declared in 44 years.
The GMD had stated the profit fell far below the NNPC’s potential.
“Obviously this company is changing very fast and on the fast lane. We just declared profit for the fiscal year 2020.
“We are not getting ready for the IPO tomorrow; that is not exactly, that is not the situation. IPO really means this company is going to be profitable, it has a long trajectory, it has a short-term view of how things can be done better to align with the best practice in the industry.
“We are trying to see how we can relax the existing framework for energy transition that is ongoing all over the world.
“Every country is adjusting its portfolio by doing things differently in a better way and obviously in the long run, this is going to be a very great company and great companies always go for IPO.
“So, this is not something that we are going to do tomorrow. Obviously not. Our new law has made the provision that we can sell shares of this company, but in today’s context, I really say this company is doing great and getting an IPO means that it is going to be better than what it is today.”
Kyari further said the reason why the NNPC is taking a stake in the 650,000 barrels per day of crude oil by Dangote Refinery was due to the consideration of energy security.
