Nigeria’s state oil giant is preparing to open its books to public investors, plotting a share sale that could redefine African capital markets. Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) plans to float between 5 percent and 10 percent of its equity on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), aiming the primary tranche squarely at local institutional and retail buyers.

The landmark domestic offering forms the centerpiece of a wider capital-raising campaign. Bayo Ojulari, the company’s chief executive officer, said the initial domestic listing will likely be followed by an international dual listing in London or New York. The move marks a dramatic pivot toward operational transparency for the traditionally insular state enterprise.

Ojulari also signaled that NNPC could eventually spin off and float several operating subsidiaries. That playbook borrows directly from Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., which unlocked tens of billions of dollars across Gulf equity bourses by carving out and separately listing its distribution, drilling, gas, and maritime logistics units over recent years.

Borrowing from Gulf playbooks

The overall strategy carries unmistakable echoes of Saudi Aramco’s historic debut in December 2019. Riyadh floated an initial 1.73 percent stake on the Tadawul exchange to raise $29.4 billion, establishing the state entity as the world’s most valuable enterprise before staging a subsequent secondary offering to institutional buyers in June 2024.

NNPC is pitching the equity sale from a position of relative financial strength. The state firm posted a record profit after tax of N7.2 trillion ($5.42 billion) for 2025. Rising crude and natural gas output helped absorb the impact of softer global prices and choppy domestic retail demand following fuel-subsidy deregulation.

Bayo Ojulari took the helm as group chief executive in April 2025, bringing nearly 35 years of upstream engineering and portfolio management experience. A former Shell executive who retired in 2021, he later launched BAT Advisory and Energy Co. Nigeria Ltd. and held leadership posts at Renaissance Africa Energy before taking NNPC’s top job.

Momentum accelerates under Bayo Ojulari

The 2025 performance gave the new management team led by Bayo Ojulari immediate credibility with stakeholders. Net income climbed 33 percent from N5.4 trillion ($4.06 billion) in 2024, audited annual filings showed. Core earnings rose 22 percent to N18 trillion ($13.5 billion), while operating cash flow expanded 16 percent to N12.8 trillion ($9.6 billion).

Operational gains have carried deep into 2026. NNPC logged N4.61 trillion ($3.42 billion) in top-line revenue and a net profit of N509 billion ($378 million) in September alone. Total hydrocarbon output hit 3.04 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, supported by improved security across key Niger Delta feeder lines.

September crude and condensate output averaged 1.70 million barrels daily, while natural gas production touched 7,789 million standard cubic feet a day. Although upstream pipeline uptime reached 100 percent during the period, downstream retail network availability averaged 54, leaving management with operational bottlenecks to clear as IPO preparations gather pace.