The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it will float about 40% of shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) when President Muhammadu Buhari grants assent to the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB).
The NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, made this known yesterday in Lagos while delivering his keynote address during the 2018 annual conference of the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC). He was represented at the event by Mr. Rowland Ewubare, the GMD of National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS).
According to Baru’s address which is titled PIGB: Emerging Issues and Concerns, the bill is all about looking at ways to make the national oil company commercially-driven. This, he said, is the reason why it is important to raise capital through the NSE by way of shares flotation.
Explaining further, Baru stated that the bill will separate the Policy, Regulatory and Commercial roles of government institutions in the oil and gas sector while assigning specific roles to them.
The bill, when eventually passed into law, will also require the Minister of Petroleum “to incorporate the two entities – the Nigerian Petroleum Assets Management Company (NPAMC) and the Nigerian Petroleum Company (NPC) as companies limited by shares which will be vested with certain liabilities and assets of the NNPC.”
In line with the above, Nigerian Petroleum Company would be a limited liability company registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) as a commercial entity and vested with the responsibility of overseeing all of NNPC’s current assets; except the production sharing contracts (PSCs).
“The initial shares shall be held by the Ministry of Petroleum Incorporated (40 per cent), the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (40 per cent) and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (20 per cent). However, 10 per cent and an additional 30 per cent of the shares of the company shall be floated on the Nigerian Stock Exchange between five years and 10 years from incorporation respectively.” – Dr. Baru