Ojulari’s journey from Elf Aquitaine, jobs across countries back home to head NNPC
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Bashir Ojulari, the new Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (GMD/CEO), appears good to go on paper with his diverse experience in the oil industry across countries.
President Bola Tinubu announced his appointment early on Wednesday, taking immediate effect, in place of Mele Kyari who was sacked along with the NNPC board in a sweeping reji that also brought in Pius Akinyelure as new board Chairman, according to a statement issued this morning by Tinubu’s spokesperson Bayo Onanuga.
Onanuga explained that Tinubu effected the changes based on Section 59, Subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.
Previous posts held by Ojulari
Ojulari, an indigene of Kwara, has expertise in petroleum, process, and production engineering.
Until his new appointment, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company.
His firm recently led a consortium of indigenous energy firms in the landmark acquisition of the entire equity holding in the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) worth $2.4 billion.
He began his career as the first Nigerian process engineer at Elf Aquitaine before joining SPDC in 1991 as an associate production technologist.
Education, professional affiliations
Ojulari is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria where he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering.
He is a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigeria Council) from 1998 to 1999.
Managerial jobs across countries
Ojulari in his career has held managerial roles in Europe and the Middle East, specialising in petroleum engineering, process engineering, production engineering, and health and safety.
In November 2015, he was appointed Managing Director of SNEPCo and General Manager, Deepwater.
He also served on the board of Shell SPDC, overseeing onshore and offshore petroleum engineering, technical integration of development, well engineering, and project engineering.
Apart from working in Nigeria, he served in different capacities in Europe and the Middle East as petroleum process and production engineer, strategic planner, field developer, and asset manager.
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