Over the last five years, the link between NNPC and the federal government has changed a great deal. Let’s start with the time before the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). NNPC was a government corporation. The Minister of Petroleum had a lot of control over it. The lines of authority were direct, but they were not […]

Before the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), NNPC did not have a clear outside regulator. In many ways, it watched over itself. The old NNPC did two jobs at once. It ran businesses in the oil industry. It also helped to regulate that same industry. It was both the player and the referee. There was also […]

If you’ve been following Nigerian oil and gas news, you’ve heard about the Petroleum Industry Act. You’ve heard about NNPC Limited. But what’s the connection between them? The short answer: the PIA created NNPC Limited. Section 53 of the Act mandated the incorporation of the company. Section 257 abolished the old NNPC. One law, one […]

Who owns NNPC? For most of its history, the answer was simple but vague. The government owned it. That was enough. But after the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, the answer became precise. NNPC Limited has actual shares. Actual shareholders. Actual legal documentation. The ownership structure is now defined by two laws: the Petroleum Industry Act […]

If you want to understand NNPC, you need to understand the laws that created it, shaped it, and now govern it. For over four decades, one law was enough. The NNPC Act of 1977 defined everything — what NNPC could do, how it was structured, who it answered to. It was a simple framework for […]