The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has said those desirous of owning shares of the company when it becomes fully commercialised in the next six months, may need to wait till 2024, in keeping with the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), which it would be operating under.
Group Managing Director of the corporation, Mele Kyari, who disclosed this said the NNPC would only be able to issue its Initial Public Offering (IPO) to investors in the next three years as its books would need to be to be properly cleaned up, with the proposed NNPC Limited recapitalised, before embarking on such a huge business decision.
Kyari, who made this when he was a guest on Global Financial News on Bloomberg Television, assured that the corporation was currently in a good stead with the declaration of its first profit in 44 years and that the IPO would put NNPC in an even better position in the oil and gas space.
He said the corporation was concerned about the global transition towards renewable sources of energy and was in the process of adjusting its portfolio to meet future challenges.
On the corporation’s involvement in Dangote refinery, for which it is paying about $2.7 billion, he reiterated that it was to ensure energy security as well as tie down markets for Nigeria’s crude oil, adding that the three goals for the government’s involvement in Dangote refinery were access to petroleum products, some level of control over the company, and, most importantly, net market for Nigeria’s crude oil.
Recall that by the provisions of the new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), NNPC, as currently constituted, is expected to transition into a fully commercialised business concern in which the public can own shares and take part in its major decisions.
