LAGOS, April 3 (Reuters) - Nigeria's President Bola

Tinubu has appointed ex-Shell executive Bayo Ojulari and a new

board to run the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, raising

hopes of a much-needed overhaul at the troubled state-owned firm

and a boost in oil production.

Long serving as Nigeria's golden goose, NNPC's opaque

dealings, corruption and high-level political meddling have

crippled its finances in recent years, creating challenges the

new leadership must tackle if they are to get the company - and

the nation's economy - back on track.

Here is what to know about NNPC's operations.

WHY DOES NNPC MATTER?

Nigeria's economy is dependent on oil, which accounts for

90% of exports and typically half of the revenues that fund its

national budget, making NNPC's performance critical to the

economic well-being of Africa's most populous nation.

"No Nigerian president can succeed in moving the needle of

the economy without addressing the long hydra-headed issues that

have made the state oil company a cesspit of malfeasance for

decades," said Abuja-based energy analyst Kelvin Emmanuel.

Nigeria produces around 1.75 million barrels of oil per day

mostly through NNPC's joint ventures with international partners

Shell, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Chevron ( CVX ) and Eni.

NNPC, which is also Nigeria's largest importer of refined

fuels, said last year that it had $161 billion in assets.

RESTRUCTURING NNPC

One of the biggest tasks for Ojulari, a 24-year industry

veteran, will be to restructure NNPC to become more efficient,

analysts said.

That could involve cutting its workforce of over 5,700

employees and selling off some of NNPC's sprawling assets, which

include petrol stations and troubled refineries, in order to

concentrate on oil production.

Any large-scale changes, however, could face pushback from

powerful politicians, who influence appointments at NNPC and

benefit from the company's contracts, the analysts said.

Jeremiah Enoch, an associate at consultancy firm J.S. Held,

said Ojulari would also have to carefully navigate "the

persistent issue of ethnic politics within the organisation,"

referring to how ethnic identity can make or break careers in

Nigeria.

TRANSPARENCY

NNPC has long been accused of lacking transparency. It only

started publishing financial results in 2021 after four decades

of operations.

Last September, after months of denials, it finally admitted

it was facing financial strain and owed $6 billion to gasoline

suppliers.

NNPC has also not disclosed how much of its future crude

revenues are earmarked for loan repayments, though local media

report the figure could run into the billions of dollars.

Clementine Wallop, director for Sub-Saharan Africa at

political risk consultancy Horizon Engage, said Ojulari faces a

tough challenge to sustain recent production gains that many

hope will underpin Nigeria's economic recovery.

"He will need all his skills to tackle some serious

challenges at NNPC, which has had a rocky time financially in

the last year," she said.

Restructuring and transparency would also help ready NNPC

for a planned initial public offering, which could come in the

next 12 to 15 months and provide a useful injection of fresh

capital, a senior company official said.

($1 = 1,532.3800 naira)