'Get Ready' - Nigerians to own shares in NNPCL as company gets set to list

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has said Nigerians will soon be co-owners of the oil company.

The Group Managing Director of the oil firm, Mele Kyari, said the long-awaited company listing on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) is close.

PIA allows Nigerians to own shares in NNPCL

Kyari explained that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) had transformed the company into a publicly quoted commercial entity with an opportunity for the general public to invest.

The NNPCL boss said the PIA had created an opportunity for the general investing public in the firm.

According to a report by The Nation, Kyari said that others will own the company shares at maturity.

Kyari said: "At maturity, this company's shares will be owned by others."

"The law anticipates three years of incorporation of the company. You can start the process, and it is within sight," Kyari said.

NNPCL is no longer government-owned

Per the NNPCL boss, the company has pivoted from a government-owned corporation to a commercial and profit-oriented limited liability company.

He stated that the shareholders are mainly the overall population of Nigerians and that the firm is transitioning to a place where other people can be interested in it.

Kyari noted that the company is not a money-losing venture and that Nigeria's oil and gas sector has matured so that companies operating in it can break even.

"Therefore, what happened today is that you have a national oil company that is commercial, which has progressed from a loss-making company to now a profit-making company that is not just providing dividends to its shareholders," Kyari noted.

NNPCL makes highest profit in history

On January 9, 2024, Legit.ng reported that NNPCL disclosed that it made a profit of N2.548 trillion in 2022, describing it as the highest profit since the company began operations 47 years ago.

The company is a state-owned oil corporation founded in 1977 and the largest holder in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

After Nigeria passed the Petroleum Industry Act by ex-President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2022, it began commercial operations. The company posted a loss of N803 billion in 2018 in a one-page document.

The loss was later reduced to N1.7 billion in 2019, which later jumped to N287 billion profit in 2020, while it described it as a turning point.

In 2021, the company's profit grew to N674.1 billion, which continued to climb, hitting N2.548 trillion in 2022.

The NNPCL said the profit was its highest since its inception.

The company owns three of Nigeria's Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries.

It said the Port Harcourt refinery will begin operation in early April 2024.