President Bola Tinubu has reconstituted the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), replacing Mele Kyari with Bayo Ojulari as the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO).
He tasked the newly appointed NNPCL’s GCEO with crude oil output for Nigeria.
Tinubu replaces Mele Kyari with Ojulari as NNPCL GCEO
Ojulari took over from Kyari, who has been NNPC’s boss since July 2019. He is the longest-serving NNPC CEO since 1999.
Ojulari has over 34 years in the global oil and gas industry spanning the management of petroleum asset acquisition and divestment, exploration, field development, production management and other areas.
His appointment as NNPC chief seeks to leverage Nigeria’s oil production by achieving over two million barrels of oil daily while maximising value for Nigeria’s economy.
Ojulari’s Career
He graduated from Ahmadu Bello University with a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering and began his career at Elf Petroleum Nigeria.
Ojulari joined Shell and spent over 24 years in various leadership positions in Nigeria, Europe, and the Middle East.
He was the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) from 2015 to 2021. While at Shell, he supervised deep-water assets, with a production capacity of 320,000 barrels daily and an annual operating cost of $1 billion.
His work at Shell
Under his leadership, Shell Nigeria achieved robust milestones, including a 20% production increase, a 30% reduction in operational costs, and a 40% reduction in project costs.
He was awarded the Bonga Asset award as the Asset of the Year in 2016. His negotiation abilities allowed him to navigate complex commercial agreements, which were instrumental in securing new product-sharing contracts and dispute resolution agreements with OML-118, leading to growth projects worth between $6-8 billion.
His appointment comes amid significant challenges in NNPC, such as pipeline vandalism, oil theft, and the call to diversify Nigeria’s oil portfolio.
