Lokpobiri Links Dangote Refinery IPO Success to Deregulation

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has attributed the success of the ongoing initial public offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery to the Federal Government’s deregulation of the petroleum sector. Lokpobiri stated this on Thursday at the National Summit of the Forum of Former Presiding Officers of State Houses of Assembly of Nigeria in Abuja, themed “Bold Leadership, Bold Reforms: From Subsidy to Renewed Hope.” The Dangote Refinery IPO, which opened on September 14, involves 4.1 billion ordinary shares priced at N525 each, with the offer targeting N2.15 trillion. The minister described it as Africa’s largest IPO and said deregulation had created room for greater private-sector participation in the downstream oil industry.

Lokpobiri said the government’s strategic investment in Dangote Refinery, which made the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited a shareholder, was part of the changes transforming the petroleum sector. He said NNPC had previously been the sole importer of refined petroleum products but no longer imports refined products, attributing the development to the sector’s reforms. The minister expressed optimism that the IPO would be oversubscribed and said the public offer is scheduled to close on October 13, with a minimum subscription of 10 shares valued at N5,250. He also linked the absence of fuel queues since 2023 to the reforms and claimed the petroleum sector contributes about 85 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings. Lokpobiri further said the government had cleared about $7 billion in outstanding foreign exchange obligations to foreign airlines, while putting the country’s foreign reserves at about $54 billion.

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