Business
Twitter prices above range to raise at least $1.8 billion
NEW YORK – Twitter Inc priced its initial public offering above its expected range to raise at least $1.8 billion, in a sign of strong investor demand for the most highly anticipated U.S. public float since Facebook Inc.
The microblogging network priced 70 million shares at $26, above the targeted range of $23 to $25, which had been raised once before.
The IPO values Twitter at $14.1 billion, with the potential to reach $14.4 billion if underwriters exercise an over-allotment option, as they are widely expected to.
If the full overallotment is exercised, Twitter could raise $2.1 billion, making it the second largest Internet offering in the U.S. behind Facebook’s $16 billion IPO last year and ahead of Google Inc’s 2004 IPO, according to Thomson Reuters data.
The focus now turns to how Twitter stock will fare on Thursday. Some analysts said they expect shares to experience a small pop during the first day. Twelve-month price targets on the stock range from $29 to $54.
Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research Group who valued Twitter this week at $29 a share, said the stock appears to have strong institutional investor support and could easily close over $30 a share on its first day.
But he warned that trading could be volatile, given that Wall Street has struggled to value an unorthodox social media company with a newfangled business model.
“There’s still so much uncertainty and it’s so difficult to even identify how big the opportunity is,” Wieser said. “Twitter will make Netflix look like General Electric as a bellwether of stability.”
Investor enthusiasm for Twitter, which boasts 230 million users including heads of state and celebrities, is strong even though the microblogging network has never turned a profit.
Moshe Cohen, a professor at Columbia Business School in New York, said pressure on the company could quickly mount if shares lose steam out of the gate.
“Twitter, as a company with no expectations of making profits for several years, needs its investors to have faith,” Cohen said. “If that stock starts to show some negative momentum from the beginning, it could last for a while.”
Twitter, however, is listing amid the strongest market for U.S. IPOs since 2007, as equity markets soared and uncertainty around the U.S. debt ceiling has largely subsided for now.
A number of IPOs have doubled on their first day of trading, including Container Store Group, restaurant chain Potbelly Corp and software company Benefitfocus Inc.
Twitter hiked its target IPO price on Monday from an initial range of $17 to $20. All of the proceeds from the IPO will go directly to the company, with no insider selling taking place.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc, which led the Twitter IPO, tops the list of U.S. technology bookrunners this year with an 18.3 percent market share, up from 11 percent a year ago when it ranked fifth, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co also led the IPO.
AVOIDING FACEBOOK’S MISTAKES
Twitter has been focused on avoiding many of the pitfalls that plagued Facebook during its $16 billion IPO last May. The company priced shares more conservatively than Facebook did and chose to list on the New York Stock Exchange rather than the Nasdaq.
Facebook had increased both the number of shares and the price range just before its public debut, which contributed to a sustained decline in its share price. The shares took more than a year to recover to the $38 IPO price.
“Twitter did a good job putting together its message,” said Tom Taulli, an independent IPO expert. “It wasn’t about distractions, it was about having a great property and brand and a focus on the business…that wasn’t necessarily the message when Facebook came out.”
The high level of interest stoked by Twitter’s road show spurred speculation in recent days that its bankers could raise the price again significantly higher than $25, but they ultimately did not.
“I’m glad they didn’t take it up higher, as speculated,” said Suntrust Robinson Humphries analyst Robert Peck. “It still provides enough upside for investors and provides a nice contrast to Facebook.”
CHALLENGES REMAIN
Despite Twitter’s successful IPO, some analysts have expressed concerns that Twitter’s valuation is dependent on sustained user growth and a maturing advertising business – two factors that may never be realized.
Although the company has close to a quarter-billion-users, it lacks the ubiquity of Facebook or the “stickiness” factor that keeps people checking the No. 1 social network on a daily basis. A Reuters-Ipsos poll last month showed that 36 percent of people who signed up for a Twitter account say they do not use it.
Twitter, which has extensively courted large brand marketers, still generates relatively little revenue per user compared with Facebook, while the majority of its users are located outside the U.S. in countries such as Indonesia or Brazil, which are less lucrative digital advertising markets.
During its road show over the past week, Twitter executives had assured investors that they plan to wring more money out of its international user base and smaller businesses by expanding its self-serve advertising products and opening offices abroad.
But analysts say the company could encounter a slew of regulatory and policy hurdles in foreign countries as it expands.
Twitter said last month that its third-quarter revenue more than doubled to $168.6 million, but net losses widened to $64.6 million from $21.6 million a year earlier as costs ballooned.
Aside from aggressively growing its overseas sales presence, Twitter’s expenditures will likely continue to rise.
Twitter disclosed Monday that it had received a letter from International Business Machines Corp accusing the social media company of infringing on at least three U.S. patents. Twitter’s well-known intellectual property vulnerabilities could force the company to invest heavily in expanding its patent portfolio, similar to what Facebook has done since going public.
Twitter is set to trade on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday under the ticker TWTR.
– REUTERS
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) claimed that it saved $3.4 billion through contract restructuring and optimisation between April 2025 and July 2026.
Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, made the assertion in Abuja at the opening of the 25th Nigeria Oil & Gas (NOG) Energy Week, while highlighting the impact of ongoing reforms aimed at improving operational efficiency, reducing costs, strengthening partnerships, and enhancing value delivery to the federation.
Ojulari also stated that the national oil company had maintained full compliance with its joint venture cash call obligations.
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According to the scorecard presented by the NNPC Ltd, the $3.4 billion cost savings were realised through contract restructuring and optimisation initiatives across the company’s operations.
The reforms also contributed to an increase in government revenue, with the NNPC Ltd reporting a government take of N19.5 trillion, representing a 21.8 per cent year-on-year increase.
Besides, a major highlight of the report was NNPC’s 100 percent compliance with its joint venture cash call obligations across all its joint ventures from Financial Year 2025 to June 2026.
However, the company’s partners recorded a blended compliance rate of just 61 percent.
Of the 27 joint venture partners, only six were fully current with their obligations, while 13 recorded partial compliance with an average payment rate of 72 percent, and eight remained in significant default, paying an average of only 14 percent, prompting Joint Operating Agreement remedies.
The NNPC Ltd said it remained committed to sustaining its cash call obligations to support Nigeria’s target of achieving two million barrels of oil production per day.
Operationally, the company reported a six percent increase in crude oil production year-on-year and an 8.1 percent rise in gas production over the same period, reflecting improvements in upstream operations.
Ojulari also highlighted several strategic partnerships concluded since the last Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference, including a long term gas supply agreement with Nigeria LNG, progress on deepwater investments valued at over $20 billion, refinery related partnerships, industrial gas projects, and new gas supply arrangements.
Looking ahead, the company identified seven priority projects expected to drive production and gas infrastructure growth through 2027.
These, it said, included the UTM Floating LNG project, the OB3 East West Connector, the AKK gas pipeline, refinery technical enhancement projects, the Zabazaba deepwater development, the Owowo field, and the BSWAP project.
The state oil major added that the combination of cost optimisation, stronger operational performance, improved infrastructure reliability, and strategic partnerships would reinforce Nigeria’s energy security, boost government revenues, and support sustainable growth in oil and gas production.
Ojulari said the national oil company achieved 98 percent recovery across five crude export terminals between April 2025 and May 2026, up from one per cent at Bonny in June 2022.
He put current output at 1.71mbpd, the highest in five years, with the NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL) hitting a record 365,000 bpd.
Gas production, he said, reached 7.5 billion standard cubic feet per day (bscf/d) following the River Niger crossing on the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Pipeline and inauguration of the ANOH Gas Plant.
Ojulari added that the NNPC Ltd had “zero tolerance for partners who are not able to fund their Cash-call” and had begun invoking default clauses.
He stressed collaboration over control, saying, “We have rid ourselves of any pseudo-regulation. We are not the super-regulator. Let them regulate. We want to work.”
Energia Limited and its Joint Venture partner, Oando Plc, have inaugurated the board of trustees of the Ndokwa West-1 Host Community Development Trust (HCDT).
The inauguration marked a significant milestone in strengthening sustainable development, transparency and community participation across their host communities in Delta State.
The inauguration, held in Asaba, also featured the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Energia-Oando Joint Venture and the seven host communities, in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021.
The event brought together representatives of Delta State Government, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), traditional rulers, community leaders, members of the newly inaugurated board of trustees, and other key stakeholders from the oil and gas industry.
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Representing the Governor of Deputy Governor, Delta State, Sir Monday Onyeme, Deputy Chief of Staff, Hon. Christopher Osaskwe commended Energia Limited and the host communities for successfully establishing the Trust and signing the Memorandum of Understanding.
He described the initiative as a demonstration of mutual commitment to partnership and sustainable development, while urging the newly inaugurated board to discharge its responsibilities with transparency, accountability and fairness.
He also encouraged host communities to continue protecting oil and gas infrastructure and embrace dialogue as the preferred approach to resolving disputes.
Managing Director, Energia Limited, Oladimeji Bashorun, described the inauguration as the beginning of a new chapter in the relationship between Energia and its host communities.
According to him, the company remains focused on building partnership, shared responsibility and sustainable development rather than dependency.
He noted that while the PIA provides a structured framework for host community development, Energia’s commitment to its host communities predates the legislation and has remained a core part of the Company’s operating philosophy since it achieved First Oil in 2009.
“Communities that host our operations should also share meaningfully in the opportunities created by those operations. Our success has always been closely connected to the success of our host communities,” Bashorun said.
He also disclosed that Energia has invested over N15.94 billion in community development initiatives since inception, supporting roads, drainage systems, healthcare facilities, educational programmes, scholarships, youth empowerment, solar-powered street lighting, community welfare initiatives and other social investments across its operational communities. He added that the Company dedicates 3% of its gross revenue annually to support sustainable development initiatives for its host communities.
Also speaking at the event, the Asset Manager of Oando, Seyi Fawora, reaffirmed the Joint Venture’s commitment to implementing the HCDT, noting that the partnership remains focused on building stronger, mutually beneficial relationships with host communities.
The representative of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Dennis Eyitemi, described the inauguration as a significant milestone in strengthening host community participation in development. He urged members of the Board of Trustees to remain accountable, transparent and committed to promoting the long-term welfare of the communities they represent.
Providing an overview of the HCDT framework, the Delta State Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Omamuzo Irebe, SAN, commended Energia for contributing beyond the statutory requirement prescribed under the Petroleum Industry Act and encouraged members of the Board to place community interests above personal interests while ensuring prudent management of the Trust’s resources.
The ceremony concluded with the swearing-in of the members of the Ndokwa West-1 Host Community Development Trust Board of Trustees. In his acceptance remarks, the Chairman of the Board, Chief Godwin Edeme, pledged the Board’s commitment to working with Energia Limited, Oando Petroleum Development Company and all stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation of the Trust for the benefit of present and future generations.
The establishment of the Ndokwa West-1 Host Community Development Trust represents another milestone in Energia’s long-standing commitment to responsible operations, stakeholder engagement and creating shared value for its host communities through sustainable, transparent and inclusive development. About Energia Limited
Energia Limited is a leading indigenous Nigerian exploration and production company with a proven track record of responsible hydrocarbon development and sustainable value creation. Since achieving First Oil in 2009, Energia has remained committed to operational excellence, environmental stewardship, and meaningful partnerships with its host communities, delivering lasting social and economic impact alongside its business growth.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) flow into Nigeria climbed to roughly $4 billion last year, according to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2026.
The report stated that “Inflows to Nigeria rose to about $4 billion, supported mainly by oil and gas–related IPF deals, including a major project valued at about $2 billion.”
The report indicated that Nigeria’s inflows were $1.6 billion in 2024, before increasing to roughly $4 billion (precisely $4.005 billion) in 2025 — reversing a downward trend that had seen inflows dip as low as $895 million in 2022. The figures place Nigeria among a cluster of West and East African economies that bucked a broader continental slowdown
According to the report, Nigeria’s outward investment also rose, from $408 million in 2024 to $1.19 billion in 2025, while its inward FDI stock reached nearly $93 billion by year-end.
“In Nigeria, deals included the sale of Shell’s onshore oil assets to the Nigerian consortium Renaissance Africa Energy and the acquisition of Lafarge Africa by Huaxin Cement of China, signaling both a wave of asset localization in the oil sector and continued Asian appetite for Nigerian industrial assets.
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On the Greenfield side, conglomerate Dangote Group emerged as an outward investor in its own right, backing a $3 billion chemicals project in neighboring Ethiopia — one of the 10 largest Greenfield projects announced across the continent in 2025.
Policy shifts also featured prominently in the report’s account of the investment climate. It noted that the government introduced sweeping fiscal reforms during the year, including a new minimum tax regime aligned with international standards.
“Nigeria, for instance, introduced a minimum effective tax rate of 15 per cent for multinational enterprises with revenues exceeding €750 million,” the report noted.
Alongside this, the report observed that Nigeria, together with Cameroon, moved to tighten incentive structures more broadly, as the two countries “replaced broad tax exemptions with tiered tax credits and strict eligibility requirements, such as job creation, local value addition and priority sectors.” Separately, the government rolled out targeted relief for the petroleum sector, introducing “performance-based tax credits for companies in the upstream petroleum industry, linking fiscal benefits to cost efficiency.”
The report also credited Nigeria with using regulatory innovation to court investors beyond the extractive sector.
It pointed to the Federal Government ‘s technology-focused reforms, noting that Nigeria “has used regulatory frameworks to reduce uncertainty for innovative firms,” citing the Startup Act and accompanying central bank rules that let sandboxes allow start-ups to test products with real users before facing the full weight of regulation.
On trade infrastructure, the report named Nigeria as one of five countries — alongside Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Ghana and Togo — that committed under a regional agreement to harmonising customs and border procedures along the Abidjan–Lagos corridor, part of a wider West African push to cut transit times and integrate cross-border trade.
Africa as a whole, according to the report, saw FDI inflows fall sharply from an exceptional 2024, but the report noted that in West Africa, investment “rose in several West African economies, supported mainly by investment in natural resources and energy.”
Courtesy – The Punch
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