By Radarr Africa Business Desk
LAGOS, November 4 (Radarr Africa) – The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd is considering selling between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of its equity in a planned initial public offering, its Group Chief Executive, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, has said.
Nairametrics reported on November 3 that Ojulari made the disclosure in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday. The offer would be aimed mainly at Nigeria’s domestic capital market, with a possible secondary listing in London or New York, according to the report.
The company is also considering listing some of its subsidiaries separately, modelled on the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Nairametrics said.
NNPC expects to spend at least all of 2027 preparing for the listing, the report said. It added that the purpose is mainly to improve transparency and governance under Nigerian law, with capital-raising a secondary goal. The report did not carry direct quotes from Ojulari.
On refineries, Nairametrics said Chinese companies had expressed interest in taking equity stakes in the smaller Port Harcourt and Warri plants, which need major rehabilitation. NNPC would keep at least a 10 per cent interest in them, and expects at least one facility to resume production within three years, according to the report.
The update follows the close of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s initial public offering on October 27, which Nairametrics said came after a two-week extension from the original October 13 deadline.
Nairametrics set out a timeline of the NNPC listing plan. The Federal Government first stated its intention to list the company in 2016. The Petroleum Industry Act of 2021 created a legal framework for NNPC to operate commercially and eventually go public.
In September 2021, then Group Managing Director Mele Kyari said NNPC had to clean up its financial records, recapitalise and restructure before any offering. In March 2025, the company engaged advisers for investor relations, IPO readiness and investment banking. In July 2025, Ojulari outlined a roadmap targeting a stock market listing by 2028.
In September 2026, NNPC said it had no fixed IPO date and that shareholders would decide after readiness assessments, Nairametrics reported. In October 2026, the company was reported to be addressing governance and financial reporting gaps identified by its advisers.
On October 19, Nairametrics said, Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele backed the listing of NNPC and Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) to boost transparency and wealth creation.
The report also summarised the company’s recent financial performance, drawn from monthly reports it reviewed. For January to August 2026, NNPC recorded revenue of N28.54 trillion and profit after tax of N2.99 trillion.
Its audited 2025 results showed profit after tax rising 32.7 per cent to N7.18 trillion from N5.41 trillion in 2024. Revenue over the same period fell 23.4 per cent to N34.52 trillion from N45.08 trillion, and gross profit dropped to N9.37 trillion from N11.71 trillion.
Sundry income reached N7.10 trillion in 2025, equal to about 99 per cent of reported profit after tax, according to the report. Nairametrics did not say how the company explained that item.
The NNPC update comes days after another large Nigerian energy listing. The Dangote refinery offer, which Africanews described on October 28 as a historic IPO, closed before the end of October.
Neither Nairametrics nor Reuters, as cited, gave a date for the NNPC offer or a price range. Whether the shares would be sold to institutional or retail investors, or both, was also not stated in the Nairametrics report.
