Shares Of NNPC Ltd Will Be Sold To Nigerians Very Soon—Kyari

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Mele Kyari, has said that the National Oil Company will issue its Initial Public Offer to investors very soon.

Kyari said this on Tuesday at the 22nd edition of the NOG Energy conference with the theme, “Powering Nigeria’s Sustainable Energy Future”

The NOG Energy Week is Nigeria’s foremost international energy conference.

The 2023 Energy Week is the 22nd edition of the annual event holding at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

The gathering draws together policymakers, regulators, and leaders from the private sector to discuss Nigeria’s vital energy agenda.

Delivering his keynote address on ‘Redefining Nigeria’s Energy Landscape for a Sustainable Energy Future’ the NNPC boss said as a Company that is guided under the regulations of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, the NNPC will declare its shares to the public for acquisition very soon.

He said, “I’m happy to say this moment that this country is changing. And by the way, I can tell you we are the competition. We are NNPCL. We don’t create rules anymore. We are the competition.

“We will pay taxes; we will pay royalties like anyone; we will also pay dividends to our shareholders which many of you are. So we are in business and business means competition. We are a private sector – forget about the fact that we are own by the government 100 per cent.

“By the way, you are also aware, we are going Initial Public Offer (IPO) very soon, we’ll sell a part of our equity. It’s in the law, and once that happens, we will not be any different for any of you and it will be a very different business environment.”

The NNPC GCEO stated further that affordability, accessibility and sustainability are the drivers of Nigeria’s energy future.

Kyari noted that key initiatives on the horizon for NNPCL will include expanding gas infrastructure to deliver gas across West Africa and potentially, Europe; expansion of liquefaction capacity of NLNG and enabling availability of LPG as a cooking fuel and CNG as alternative fuel for automobiles.

Reaffirming Nigeria’s status as a gas nation with associated oil, Kyari reiterated the need to bridge the skilled manpower gap, ensure asset security, and invest in infrastructure to transform challenges into opportunities.

The GCEO also added that strategic decisions like subsidy removal have already paved the way for positive change in the sector, while freeing up capital for powering the sustainable supply of energy.

He said, “Are we positioned to facilitate business? Yes, but our partnership produced over 80 percent of the oil and gas in the country – either directly or through our off stream company – or through our partnership

“I’m in a position to facilitate business. On the PSC today, we are just agents of the state, trying to make sure we deliver value to them and then they will pay…

“I’m sure you appreciate this new relationship. The PSCs are not on the balance sheet on the NNPCL. We Make sure you do your work because when you do, we are compensated 40 per cent of your profit oil, so it’s important for us as well as business for us.”

On the issue of energy poverty, he said the focus now is to ensure that more people have access to energy.

Kyari added, “Over 30 per cent don’t have access to electricity. So, is energy available or is it the problem of affordability or it is that we have an unsustainable situation or is it combination of all of them? I think we are dealing with the combination of all.

“Energy is not available, it is not affordable in definite sense because of the many structures,
many issues that have made affordability a matter of concern for everybody not just the consumer but because we can’t even afford financing for it.

“Nobody is going to give you money for projects you are not going to get back your money. Today NNPC is exposed to all of you now, not just the government.

“We supply gas, we don’t get payment we don’t get payment for it; We supply power and we don’t get payment it. So, you can’t run any business this way. You cannot be sustainable. You cannot create affordable energy and it will not be available.”