H.E. Chief Timipre Marlin Sylva is the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, August 21, 2019, as the Nigerian Cabinet Minister of State for Petroleum Resources. Prior to this current appointment, he has served as the Executive Governor of Bayelsa State of Nigeria for about 5 years. As Governor of one of the largest Oil Producing States in Nigeria, Sylva played a key role in the initiation and implementation of the Amnesty Programme that brought about peace and stability in the Niger Delta region.

Born on the 7th of July, 1964, he had his secondary education at Government Secondary School, Brass and thereafter attended the University of Port Harcourt where he graduated as the best graduating student and valedictorian, with a distinction in English (Linguistics). He was subsequently awarded a Doctor in International Relations (Honoris Causa) by the University of Business and International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland in 2011.

Chief Sylva had served as the member representing Brass constituency in old Rivers State House of Assembly in 1992 where he was the youngest legislative member. He was subsequently appointed as the Special Adviser on Political Matters to the Bayelsa State Governor, in 2000. He performed excellently in this role such that he was headhunted to serve as the Special Assistant to HRM Edmund Daukoru, who was the Nigerian Cabinet Minister of Petroleum Resources in 2003 where he had the dual role of assisting the Minister in his role as the President of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

In his current role as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he has clearly mapped out nine priority areas that include curbing petroleum products cross border leakages, completion of the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialization Programme, increasing crude oil production to 3million barrels per day, reducing the current cost of crude oil production by at least 5 per cent, aggressive promotion of the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, promotion of inland basin exploration activities, promotion of deep offshore exploration activities, collaboration with the private sector to aggressively increase domestic refining capacity and working assiduously to support President Muhammadu Buhari in his poise to achieving his target of raising millions of Nigerians out of poverty via job creation.

In a further show of commitment to giving back, he served as a Chair of the Governing Board of the Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority, where he presided over policy matters and provided strategic leadership and direction. In 2018, he was charged with the responsibility of providing steer and direction for the Governing Council of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State, as the Chairman and Pro-Chancellor.

Chief Sylva is married to Alanyingi and they have three lovely children; Taria, Timipre and Pagabio. He is a mentor to several young minds and has committed his time and resources to inspiring and empowering a new class of Nigerians, especially in underserved communities, with essential skills and tools for self-development.

Engr. Auwalu Sarki Born in 1965, the DPR helmsman and Chairman PTI governing council had a good record of sterling academic accomplishments before he joined the DPR. He was at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, from where he bagged a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering in 1989. Thereafter, he proceeded to the Bayero University, Kano where he earned a post-graduate Diploma in Management in 1993.

Done with BUK, but certainly not done with acquiring knowledge, Auwalu moved to the Chevron Academy where he was awarded a certificate in Oil and Gas Handling, Facilities Maintenance and Troubleshooting in 1999.

Auwalu’s education was not restricted to Nigeria. He was also at PETRAD Norway, where he got a Diploma in Drilling Risk Assessment in 2000. Two years later, he got another Diploma in Petroleum Policy and Management from the same institution. In 2006, Auwalu obtained a Diploma in Offshore Technology from PetrolSkill USA, and in 2007, he returned to the PETRAD Norway and earned yet another Diploma in Petroleum Policy and Operations. In 2017, the new DRP boss was at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos.

Obviously, these academic acquirements did a yeoman’s job in preparing Auwalu for an industry where he has since been a major player.

He started his working life at the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) in Lagos as a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, serving as process engineer in charge of sewage and water treatment plant between 1989 and 1990. From 1990 to 1992, Auwalu was with the Kano State Ministry of Industry and Commerce where he was able to develop industrial inspection module for Kano State.

He also successfully initiated the concept of small-scale technology in business incubation, While there, he reviewed a number of industrial proposals and oversaw their implementation. Some of such industrial concerns were Kuma Sheet Glass Company, Intravenous Fluid Production Company, Surgical Gloves, Syringes and Needle Production Company and the Fertiliser Blending Plant.

 At the Kano State Environmental Planning and Protection Agency, where he worked as environmental engineer and project manager at various times between 1992 and 1998, the new DPR boss was instrumental to the construction of the Central Industrial Effluent Treatment Plant for Challawa, Sharada and Bompai Industrial Estates, Kano River Pollution Project, and Wase Earth Dam Pollution Control Project, among others.

Since his movement to the DPR, Auwalu has held some key positions in the organisation. Indeed, in the statement announcing him, the Presidency hailed him as a driving force of the agency. Having started out in the agency in 1998, Auwalu rose through the ranks to the position of assistant director before his elevation as director of the organisation.

As principal chemical engineer between 1998 and 2002, he successfully supervised a number of collaborative projects of the DPR with oil giants such as Chevron and Shell, among others. He was also, at various times in his 21-year stint at the DPR, assistant chief chemical engineer, chief chemical engineer, deputy manager, manager, safety control manager, upstream facilities as well as assistant director.

An engineer registered by the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), the DPR helmsman is a member, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), member, Society of Petroleum Engineers and associate member, Institute of Chemical Engineers, United Kingdom.

As DPR director, Sarki Auwalu is no doubt a round peg in a round hole. And not too many people would be surprised that he hit the ground running, literally, immediately after his appointment.

Just days after he was named DPR director, the agency, under his leadership, unveiled a set of new guidelines of operations for the upstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The regulatory document, one gathered, is part of efforts geared towards limiting the cost of oil production in the country by five per cent, as demanded by the federal government and to make companies focus more on exploration.

Some of the new guidelines are Work Programme and Budget Automation, Rig and Vessel Work Automation, Drilling/Completion/Re-entry Work Process Automation and the Nigerian Oil and Gas Contract Advertising Portal (NOGCAP).

Mr. Kyari was appointed General Manager Oil Stock Management, COMD where he worked till 2015 when he was appointed Group General Manager, COMD and later Nigeria’s National Representative at OPEC.

Mele Kolo Kyari was born on the 8th of January 1965 in Maiduguri, Borno State. He attended Government Community Secondary School Biu in Borno State between 1977 to 1982. Mr. Kyari graduated from University of Maiduguri in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science in Geology.

He has 28 years of working experience in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry. He started his professional carrier as a Field Geologist with the Geological Survey of Nigeria before he joined the services of the NNPC in 1991 as a Processing Geophysicist. He served at the Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL) from 1991 until 1998 where he participated in the delivery of several seismic data processing projects.

In 1998 he was deployed to National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) as Exploration Geophysicist. Where he was engaged in the development and supervised the delivery of key deepwater exploration projects leading to the discovery of major deepwater field in the Niger Delta. Mr. Kyari served as head of NAPIMS Operations office in Abuja from 2004 until 2007 when he was deployed as the head Production Sharing Contracts Management in Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD). Mr. Kyari exceptional leadership and analytical skills enabled the development of robust basis of determining entitlements of all parties in the Production Sharing and Joint Venture arrangements and especially secured disputed Federation entitlements from the PSCs.

In recognition of his dedications to duty and effective delivery of all task assigned to him, Mr. Kyari was appointed as General Manager, Crude Oil Stock Management in 2014  and subsequently became the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division of the NNPC in 2015.

Under his watch, the Crude Oil Marketing Division recorded remarkable transformation in the management and sales of the various Nigeria’s crude oil grades and Natural Gas liquids through the institution transparency, automation of processes and business conduct with world class standards. This led to optimization of revenues accruable to the Federation and timely recovery of proceeds of sales.

Mr. Kyariis further credited with the following key achievements that has overall positive impact on the fortunes of the NNPC and the Nigerian Federation:

a) Establishment of world class systems and processes for the sale and disposal of Nigerian Crude oil and Natural Gas liquids leading to optimization of values and transparency of transactions conducted on behalf of the Corporation and the Federation at large.

b) Led a team that proposed and managed the Direct Sales and Direct Purchase (DSDP) arrangement of Petroleum products supply from 2016 to date, a process that saved the Nation $1 billion in 2016 alone compared with the previous crude SWAP arrangements of the Corporation.

c) Lead various work teams in developing the Petroleum Industry Bill that was presented to the 7th National Assembly that sought to entrench an equitable petroleum operations regime in the country.

d) Contributed immensely in resolving the various disputes with International Oil Companies (IOCs) on the performance of the Production Sharing Contracts leading to potential exit from national contingent liabilities in the excess of $9 billion dollars being claimed by NNPC’s partners.

e) Projected positive National image at various international fora by presenting papers that highlight the enhanced and transparent National dealings in petroleum trades by the NNPC. Mr. Kyari is the Oil and Gas Champion for the Open Government Partnership for Nigeria.

A Fellow of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (FNAPE), Mr. Kyari has also attended several highlevel leadership training programmes both at home and overseas.

Mr. Kyariwas appointed Nigeria’s National Representative to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Economic Commission Board 1n 2016 where he provides leadership and participates in engagements relating to Crude oil and Gas production and associated market issues.

Mr. Kyari was appointed the 19thGroup Managing Director of the NNPC by President Muhammadu Buhari with effect from 8th July 2019.

His hobbies include reading, writing, voluntary works and farming.

Shauna Noonan is the director of artificial lift engineering for Occidental Petroleum Corporation, based in Houston, where she directs the company’s efforts in artificial lift system performance globally. Prior to joining Oxy in late 2015, she worked worldwide on artificial lift projects and technology development at ConocoPhillips and Chevron for over 22 years. She has authored or co-authored more than 25 technical publications on the subject of artificial lift and is a frequent speaker at industry events. 

She has been an avid SPE volunteer in many roles since first serving as a student section officer. She served on the SPE International Board of Directors as the Technical Director for Production and Operations from 2012-2015. She has driven the development of industry standards and recommended practices for artificial lift systems while serving as chair for ISO and API committees, and has received industry awards for her contributions to the discipline.   

Noonan holds a BS degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Alberta. She is the proud mother of two daughters.

Mr. Alex Nachi Tarka, (FNAPE) is the President of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE)

Alex is the current Manager of OML-98 Assets of the NPDC - NNPC in Benin-City. He has about 30 years of oil & gas experience and started his career as a Trainee Wellsite Geologist in Elf Nigeria Limited, Port-Harcourt in 1990 under the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program. He was employed by NNPC in 1992 as a Wellsite Geologist and posted to NPDC. He has held several key positions of increasing responsibilities across the NNPC group including; Production Geologist NAPIMS, Technical Assistant to GM, JV-Oil Operations Division NAPIMS, Deputy Manager Evaluation NAPIMS, Deputy Manager Geological Studies and later Geophysics, Frontier Exploration Service-NNPC and Manager, Exploration and also Manager , Shell JV Assets at  NPDC.

Mr. Tarka is an Old Boy of the prestigious Barewa College, Zaria. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree (BSc) in Geology from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and a Postgraduate degree (PGD) in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Benin (UNIBEN).

Alex is a Certified Petroleum Geoscientist (CPG), registered Geoscientist by the Council of Nigerian Mining Engineers and Geoscientists (COMEG), Fellow of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (FNAPE) and a Council Member, Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society (NMGS).

He is also an active member of American Association of Petroleum Explorationists (AAPG), Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and Society Exploration Geophysicists (SEG).

He is happily married with a daughter and a son. His hobbies include swimming, reading, listening to music and charity work.

Nicolas Odinuwe is the Group Managing Director & CEO of Zitadel Limited, one of leading technical service companies operating in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry. He is also the Chairman of Zitadel Medicals & Diagnostics & Executive Chairman Global Lifting Services Limited. He sits on the boards of Zitadel Digital solutions Limited, Safetrak Technical Systems Limited, and Virtual Gas Limited.

Nicolas Odinuwe has over three decades management & experience in the field as QHSE consultant and in the areas of Waste Management, Engineering, Technical & Digital Support services and with investments in upstream, midstream, as well as Medical & FMCG. He has guided recent expansions of the group into Mozambique, Tanzania, Rwanda & Uganda. Nicolas is very passionate about indigenous development and empowerment of competent Nigerians with capacity to excel for self-reliance for growth.

Nicolas Odinuwe holds an M.sc from the University of Port Harcourt, a Science graduate of University of Science & Technology Port-Harcourt, an Alumnus of Georgetown University School of Business. He has gained memberships, accreditations, certifications by local and international bodies; SPE, IASP, ISWA, IOD, NIM, IMLS, NES (fellowship)

Nicolas was given special recognitions by Guild of medical Directors Abuja (2015) Medical Laboratory science council Abuja (2018) United states Embassy, Lagos (2017)

Nicolas Odinuwe is the Chairman of PETAN and a 2004 Captain of Air Assault Golf Club Port-Harcourt (2004-2005)

Aderonke Onadeko is a serial entrepreneur and a multi sectoral professional with about 30 years of experience in oil and gas trading, marketing and operations and consulting for large corporate organizations and government.

She is the Principal Consultant of DRNL Consult Ltd UK and Owner Manager of Delt-R Company Limited.

She is considered as one of the go to person in the oil and gas sector, her experience is built from the early days of oil and gas in Nigeria.

Her focus in the industry has rested on the Nigeria oil sector value chain issues, Resource development and Management, the Petroleum Industry Bill, downstream sector issues, development of Nigeria’s refining capacity, human capacity building, information dissemination, governance and legislature in the oil sector.

She is a member of the Institute of Petroleum now Energy Institute UK and she acts as a consultant to FOSTER (Facility for Oil Sector Transparency and Accountability), an initiative of the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). 

She is an Expert Advisory Panel member of NNRC (Nigeria Natural Resources Charter) active in the Nigeria oil and gas sector.

She acted as Country representative for both BNP Paribas and Natixis - International, Corporate & Investment Banking. Both financial institutions are engaged in financial services to the oil sector. The portfolios were oil and gas related in Nigeria.

She acted as a Senior Consultant to the Governor of Ogun State on Energy (Power) from June 2016 – May 2019. She led audit of the moribund Olokola FTZ development project. She was the lead consultant for Ogun State 5MW Independent power plant project with a power purchase and BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) arrangement. 

 She sits on the board of several publicly quoted and not quoted companies.

 A Chevening Scholar, Archbishop Tutu Fellow, cyclist and a runner, foodie, gardener, farmer and an adventure traveller.

Mr. Anibor Kragha is currently the Executive Secretary of the African Refiners & Distributors Association (ARA), the first ever pan-African organization for the Downstream oil sector in Africa, a position he has held from April 2020 to date.  Mr. Kragha served as the President of the ARA from March 2019 to March 2020. Prior to the ARA, he was the Chief Operating Officer for the Refineries & Petrochemicals Directorate of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from April 2016 to July 2019. Before then, he served as Group General Manager, Treasury for NNPC from September 2015 to March 2016.

Before joining NNPC, Mr. Kragha spent over ten years working for Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), an affiliate of ExxonMobil, culminating in serving as the Upstream Treasurer for ExxonMobil Affiliates in Nigeria from July 2012 to September 2015.  He also had various roles of increasing responsibility in ExxonMobil Upstream Africa Audit, MPN’s Commercial and Treasurer’s groups in Nigeria, the ExxonMobil Development Company and Corporate HQ Affiliate Finance department in the U.S.

Mr. Kragha holds four degrees – a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota (1996), a Masters in Plastics Engineering from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell (1998) and two Masters degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2003. At   MIT, Mr. Kragha was a Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) Fellow via which he secured both a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering and aMaster of Business Administration (MBA).

She is the Managing Director/CEO of Millenium Oil and Gas Company Limited (MOGCL).  She is an accomplished Lawyer, who was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1979. She is part of a group of professionals that founded Emerald Energy Resources Limited, an indigenous oil and gas company, (Operator of OML141) where she worked as Executive Director, Corporate and Legal Services until she was appointed Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of MOGCL in July 2015. 

She was the principal/founding partner of the law firm Cecilia Okafo & Associates (now Sapphire Partners), a full service corporate and litigation firm, where she gained a wealth of experience in international transactions and local legal practice.  The firm represented many foreign oil service companies in a range of matters both legal and commercial and also acted for them on various areas of law practice including contractual, regulatory and policy issues.

Mrs. Aqua Umoren was one of the pioneer legal practitioners of telecommunications in Nigeria. She acted as external solicitor to Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) and represented NITEL in its first major telecommunications Joint Venture, Mobile Telephone System (MTS) where she eventually served as Company Secretary. She also served on the Federal Governments’ Ministerial Committee to implement the Open Skies Agreement. She joined EERL in 2001.

Mrs. Aqua Umoren has a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) Degree from the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, BL from the Nigeria Law School, Lagos and a Masters in Comparative Law  Degree from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, USA. In addition to Millenium Oil and Gas Company Limited and Emerald Energy Resources Limited, she sits on the Board of Directors of Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited and Ventures and Trusts Limited. 

Cecilia Aqua Umoren is a member of the Energy Institute and is on the Board of Governors of Petroleum Club Lagos and a Past President and Trustee of International Women’s Society (IWS).

Eberechukwu Oji joined ND Western as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) in March 2020.

He has over 25 years’ experience in the Oil and Gas sector. A Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers and a Chattered Engineer with The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN armed with a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) Warwick University, UK, a Masters in Technology (MTech) Petroleum Engineering, Curtin University, Australia, a Masters in Engineering (MEng) Electrical & Electronics Engineering and a Bachelors in Engineering (BEng) Electrical & Electronics Engineering from Universities of Benin and Federal University of Technology Owerri respectively.

Prior to joining ND Western, his Fields of experience included: Exploration and Production Oil and Gas accountability from Reservoir to Export Point operations as Chief Operating Officer (COO), Neconde Energy Limited, Upstream and Midstream Oil & Gas Senior executive leadership, Operations Management of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) plant accountable for the 6 Train Operations, Regional Discipline Manager for Maintenance for Shell Companies in Nigeria and Gabon. Asset Manager for SPDC Central Hub Asset with over 1.2bscf/d of gas production and 50kbopd oil producing facilities. Major Project Management as Operations Readiness Lead for Offshore, Maintenance, HSE and Logistics in Kashagan Project, Kazakhstan. Global Field Development Consultant with significant front-end field development experience with projects in the Netherlands, UK, Norway, Singapore, Australia, United States, Bangalore etc. His fields of experience cover: Major Projects delivery, Front-end Field Development, Field Operations, Facility Maintenance, Well Intervention, Gas plant operations, Compressor station operations, Asset Management, New Business Development, Country Entry, Commercial Deal negotiation, Community Relations management, Government Relations management amongst others.

Dr. Olayiwola Francis Fatona is a Petroleum Geologist with over forty years of oil industry experience. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geology at the University of Ibadan (Nigeria) in 1973.  He obtained both the Masters of Science (1976) and Doctorate (1980) degrees in Petroleum Geology and Sedimentology from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London.

He is the Pioneer Vice Chairman of the Niger Delta Group.  He is also the Chairman of Geotrex Systems Limited, a firm of Exploration and Production Consultants which he joined after seven years stint in the Petroleum Engineering and Exploration Departments of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC).

A Past President and a Fellow of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, he is also a Certified Petroleum Geologist  (CPG) of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). He is the 6th and 2010 recipient of the prestigious, highest ranking “Aret Adams Award” of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists.

Layi was a Finalist in the 2011 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur  of the Year Award Series (West Africa Region) Master Class Category. As a yearly global, search, identify and recognize competitive exercise for Entrepreneur, Founder Executives, the award entitles him as an alumni of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Global institution.

He was the 2012 recipient of the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society (NMGS) NMGS/DPR/Chief M.O. Feyide Award in recognition of Excellent and consistent contribution in the general areas of Petroleum Engineering and Geology.

As Managing Director of the Niger Delta group; he actively and in a hands-on-manner drove and pioneered the concept of marginal Oil Field development. He brought to production in 2005 the first ever- and currently one of the few-producing Marginal Oil fields in the country.

‘Layi and his lean Management team at Niger Delta have brought a new dimension to the commercialization of gas and adding refining to the value chain for Marginal Field Operations and operators. At Niger Delta, he pioneered the monetisation of gas resources by building the first ever Gas scrubbing plant with full value capture from LPG, Propane and Dry Gas production through total elimination of gas flaring.

The company he spearheads also set a milestone by the grant of a License by the Hon. Minister of Petroleum to Operate a Refinery at the Ogbele Marginal Field in Rivers State.

The Company - Niger Delta Exploration & Production Plc remains today an icon, setting many landmark milestones and as a model having evolved as a fully integrated Independent Nigerian Oil & Gas Development institution.

He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree (Honoris Causa), by the Osun State University, in November 2018, in recognition of his multiple Entrepreneurial and inspiring contributions to the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry.

‘Layi is a passionate family oriented person, married and blessed with three sons.

Amb. Henry Olufumi Macauley is the Chairman and CEO of EnergyAfric Developers International Ltd, a company active in the Energy and Power space in Nigeria and Africa.

He bagged a BEng Hons at the famous Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone and an MBA from Knightsbridge University, and additionally a certificate from the Oxford Princeton Program.  

A former Minister of Energy and Power in Sierra Leone for 4 years, he excelled by more than doubling Installed Capacity, Electricity Produced and Energy Access during his 4-year tenure. Prior to that,  he was appointed and served for 6 years as Ambassador (High Commissioner)Plenipotentiary from Sierra Leone to the Federal Republic of Nigeria with accreditation also to the Republic of Angola, Republic of Benin, Republic of Cameroun, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Central Africa Republic and ECOWAS. 

Amb. Henry Olufumi Macauley has over 25 years of experience in private sector oil and gas leading the last company, Panaf Petroleum, to run the Sierra Leonean Refinery as well as being the CEO for previous Energy and Maritime companies in The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. 

Amb. Henry Olufumi Macauley created the Sierra Leone-Nigeria Economic Commission as well as the Nigeria Sierra Leone Chamber of Commerce; he was also the president of the National Association for Indigenous business in Sierra Leone. He is a member of the Sierra Leone Institute of Engineers and a Council Member of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce.

He is fluent in English and French while also having a good working knowledge of Spanish, Portuguese and German. He has acquired several accolades during and after service such as Minister of the Year which he won 3 years in a row, two-time winner of the African Leadership award, ECOWAS (ECREE) award, Distinguished Leadership Award, Diaspora Focus Award for Nation Building and many others. 

Amb. Henry Olufumi Macauley is also a philanthropist having supported a lot of charities and educational foundations across Africa with more focus on West Africa.

Mr. Chikezie Nwosu is an experienced senior executive with over 29 years local and international experience in the oil & gas industry vis-a-viz management of oil & gas projects, new business development and divestments and acquisitions.Mr. Nwosu is a strong energy professional with a proven track record of excellence in managing technical and non-technical business and project risks and opportunities, having worked with leading international oil and gas companies including Shell International E&P B.V. as a Global Principal Technical Expert and Asset/ Subsurface Development Manager (New Business Development), Qatar CO2/EOR, Shell Petroleum Development Company ofNigeria (SPDC), Shell Nigeria Exploration and Development Company (SNEPCo) as Regional Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa in Petroleum Engineering and Senior Front-End Project Manager.

Mr. Nwosu held Senior Executive positions in SINOPEC-Addax Petroleum Nigeria Limited, as Deputy Managing Director (Technical) and a member of the Board of Directors of both Addax Petroleum Development Nigeria Limited (APDNL) and Addax Petroleum Exploration Nigeria Limited (APENL) and for Tolea Energy B.V. the Netherlands as Executive Vice-President for Business Development and Africa.

He is a first class graduate of Nuclear Engineering Science, holds an M.Sc with distinction, majoring in  Theoretical Nuclear Physics, and is a member of several professional organizations including the Society of Petroleum Engineers (2017/2018 SPE Nigeria Council Chairman and member Board of Trustees),Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) and currently serves on the Advisory Council of the Nelson Mandela Institute’s African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja.

Effective November 21, 2019 Mr. Nwosu became a Director on the Board of Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited and Waltersmith Refining & Petrochemical Company.

Mr. D.V.G. Edwin holds a Graduate and Masters Degree in Engineering from the Madras University in India and he is also a Chartered Engineer. He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IITM, Holland. 

He started his career in 1978 and he grew up to the level of Managing Director in 1989, in India. During his career in India in Industrial Management, his areas of focus were industrial engineering, cost reduction, human capital management, general management and project management. He had executed industrial projects funded by the World Bank.

Mr. Edwin joined the Dangote Group in 1992 as a General Manager and was responsible for two textile mills under the control of the Group. He was promoted to Group General Manager in 1994 and Executive Director (Projects) in 1998. He has executed almost all the projects of the Group including the spinning mills and the textile processing factory, the packaging materials plant, the flour mills, the pasta plant, the cement terminals, the cement plants, the noodles plants, etc.

In 2000, he became the Executive Director (Industries and Projects) and he was vested with the responsibility of supervising all the plants in the Group including the sugar refinery, cement terminal, salt plant, flour mills, pasta plant, packaging materials plant and textile mills. In 2002, he was moved to the position of Group Executive Director (Business Development) to handle all the new projects. He was the pioneer Managing Director/CEO of Obajana Cement Plc from 2004 to 2006.

Having joined the Dangote Group when it was in the threshold of entering into manufacturing activities, Mr. Edwin deployed his wealth of experience to the Group in its growth. He was formerly the Group Managing Director / CEO of Dangote Cement Plc, and is currently the Group Executive Director (Strategy, Capital Projects & Portfolio Development).

Silfat Olabimpe AFOLABI is a Partner in KPMG in Nigeria and leads the Compliance and Internal Control unit for the KPMG entities in Nigeria.

She is a seasoned professional with over 18 years of work experience in tax consultancy and risk-based solutions i.e. Enterprise Risk Management framework, Risk Assessments, Internal Control/Contract Compliance Assessments, Corporate Governance and Board advice.

Bimpe has excelled at risk-based analysis and assessment techniques within the Nigerian member firm and has championed compliance procedures and in the process, proffered effective client service management which led to her appointment as an international compliance auditor across the global network of the Big 4 firm.

Her graduate degree was in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Ibadan in 2000.  She has further acquired a Global Executive Master’s in Business Administration from the prestigious IE Business School in Spain.  She is a Chartered Accountant, an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

In her spare time, she loves building Legos with her children, spending time with her family and reading novels. In addition, she volunteers for many charities and not-for-profit organizations, particularly those with focus on empowering young women.

C. Susan Howes, PE, PHR, is Vice President of Engineering at Subsurface Consultants & Associates, LLC, in Houston, Texas, where she maintains technical quality standards for consultancy, recruitment and training services.  A Petroleum Engineering graduate of the University of Texas (UT), Howes joined Anadarko Petroleum where she held roles of increasing responsibility over 25 years in reservoir engineering, business development, corporate engineering and HR.  In 2007, Howes joined Chevron as Manager of the Horizons Program, and later served as Reservoir Management Consultant at Chevron. Howes is recognized an industry leader in petro-technical talent attraction, development and retention. She has coauthored numerous papers and articles on the topics of ethics, uncertainty management, risk management, and talent management. Howes currently chairs the UT Hildebrand Department of PGE Distinguished Alumni Committee, serves on the UT PGE External Advisory Board, serves on the Colorado School of Mines PE Department Program Advisory Board, serves on the Board of Directors for the Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council and serves on the US Advisory Council for the SPE.  Howes received the SPE DeGolyer Distinguished Service Medal, is an Honorary Member of SPE, and serves as a SPE Distinguished Lecturer for 2019-20.

Engr. Mustapha Y. Yakubu is the Chief Operating Officer, Refineries & Petrochemicals (COO, R&P) of NNPC. He joined the services of the Corporation as Senior Civil/Structural Engineer in 1992 and rose through the ranks to become the Managing Director, National Engineering & Technical Company Limited (NETCO) and later, the COO, R&P in July 2019.

Engr. Mustapha holds a Bachelor of Engineering (B. Eng.) degree and Masters of Science (M.Sc.) degree, both in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria in 1985 and University of Lagos in 1988 respectively.

He started his working career with Bayero University, Kano in the Department of Civil Engineering in 1986 as a Graduate Assistant. He also worked as Project Engineer with Ove-Arup & Partners, a firm of consulting Engineers, Lagos between 1989 and 1991 prior to his joining NNPC in 1992.

His previous engineering design and construction management experience while in NETCO involved a broad band of projects activities in the oil and gas industry from Conceptual and Front End Engineering Design (FEED) to Detailed Engineering Design (DED), through to Fabrication and Construction supervision.

He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE) and Corporate Member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).

Engr. Mustapha Yakubu is happily married and blessed with Children. His hobbies include fitness and travelling.

A 1985 graduate of Economics from the Suffolk University Boston Massachusetts, USA, Ms. Nike Kolawole holds a Masters in Business Administration Degree from Durham University Business School, Durham England. She is a registered member of the Securities and Futures Authority (SFA), now FSA and won the Dean’s Awards during her undergraduate studies for two years running in 1982 – 1983.

She started her career in Investment Banking working with a number of International Banks such as Merrill Lynch, Citibank, Goldman Sachs and lastly, Credit Suisse, where she rose to the level of Vice-President prior to her transition to the Oil & Gas Industry. As a member of the Special Finance Group in Merrill Lynch, Ms. Kolawole was responsible for settling Eurobonds traded in Holland, France, USA, Switzerland and ECU. Her expertise in investment banking, Private Banking, Asset Management and Credit Risk Analysis acquired from working in these global banks continued to be invaluable in her immediate past role of exploring viable funding sources and options available for NNPC’s bankable projects from the ever-dynamic global financial/lender markets.

She Joined the Finance Department of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in 2007 as the Supervisor, Upstream Projects Finance and rose through the ranks to her current role as the Group General Manager, LNG Investment Management Services (LIMS). Prior to her recent appointment, she was the Group General Manager Finance, NNPC, a position she has occupied since September 2018. She also held other positions in the Finance Division of the F&A Directorate such as General Manager, Finance, Manager, Upstream Finance and DM, Upstream Finance. The combination of her external exposure and NNPC’s internal drive to maximize value from further exploration and development activities shaped her excellent leadership qualities and skills in a manner that constantly exploits the value of her contribution to NNPC and the Nigerian nation, in an outstanding manner.

Ms Nike Kolawole has in the last few years worked assiduously within the Finance Team to successfully package a number of challenging financing initiatives that positively impacted the Nigerian oil and gas industry resulting in significantly improving the image of the Corporation. These heavy lift issues were tackled headlong as the team forayed into new frontiers with the sterling contributions of Ms Kolawole as the then GM, Finance co-piloting the affairs of the Finance Division. She has won several awards for her participation in several high profile debt financings such as the African Oil and Gas Deal of the Year Award for the 2012 RDP Funding, amongst others.

Specifically, the following selected initiatives exemplify the successes mentioned above:

a)      The execution of the Cash Call Arrears Repayment Agreements which culminated in the pre-2016 accumulated Cash Call arrears to the JVs of $6.8bn negotiated downwards with a 25% haircut to $5.1bn which has been substantially repaid including that for Mobil fully repaid.

b)      This singular effort of addressing the JV industry funding challenges evolved into the creation of a sustainable Self-Funding Model (SFM) which restored the confidence of the JV partners to resume investments in the Upstream Sector of the oil and gas industry. This continues to excite the financing markets/lender community that are now more eager to lend into Nigerian oil and gas Projects. The SFM when fully implemented will result in ramp up of production to 570kpd and 3.6bscfpd of liquid (oil + condensate) and gas (AG + NAG) respectively by 2025.

c)       The introduction of an innovative and novel Contractor Financing Model to grow NPDC’s reserves and production. This new Contractor Financing structure is governed by a Funding and Technical Services Agreement (FTSA) for a selected number of NNPC’s wholly-owned subsidiary, NPDC’s bankable projects.

d)      The $2.5bn Pre-payment Financing of NNPC’s share of Capex by NLNG for the NLNG T1-T6 gas supply projects which has been approved by Mr. President to meet NNPC’s obligations towards the development of Upstream Gas Projects required to meet the capacity utilization of 22mtpa of NLNG and 5 mtpa of natural gas liquids (LPG and Condensate) for its six NLNG processing Trains.

e)       In NNPC, she has either driven or been part of the team that has amongst others, influenced the Industry positively by developing the strategy and framework for providing external financing to all NNPC’s entities, its JV relationships and monitoring performance of financings, which have over the last 12 years’ raked in foreign direct investments (FDIs) in excess of $15.00 bn. The Federation stands to earn well over $37bn through the life of these projects. Notably, several deals valued at a cumulative sum over $7bn have been closed out since her appointment as the GGM, Finance.

Consequent upon her appointment as the GGM LIMS, Ms. Nike Kolawole is as always, poised for more collaborative and mutually beneficial business relationships that will yield positive results to the nation and indeed, all stakeholders in line with current Executive Management drive for Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence.

Iyke joined Shell about 15yrs ago as a Petrophysicist and has worked for Shell in Nigeria, United States and United Kingdom. His upstream experience cut across Exploration, Field Development, Asset Management and Business Planning. Iyke is passionate about talent development and gender equality at the workplace.

Iyke is currently Portfolio Business Opportunity Manager, Bonga Main/North Field and has previously worked in the following capacities;

Exploration & Development: Opportunity Maturation, Reserves Booking & Auditing, Wells, Reservoir & Facilities Management

Production Operations and Management; Field Development and Management, LNG & Gas Development 

Economics, Business Planning and Portfolio Strategy

Non-Operated Ventures Management (Joint Ventures and Unitization Scenarios)

Government, Regulator and Partner engagement and Compliance Management

Iyke Obtained an MSC in Engineering Physics from CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, GÖTEBORG, SWEDEN and an MBA in Strategic Management & Finance Major from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA  

Pearl is a qualified solicitor and member of the Law Society of England & Wales. She graduated with a LLB (Hons.) from the University of Bristol and is also a Chartered Secretary (ICSA). She has since experienced remarkable professional growth in the last fifteen years whilst building her legal career within UK and Nigerian corporate structures.

In 2002, she began working at the Crown Agents UK who providespecialist and multidisciplinary services ininstitutional development, international trade & procurement and finance. Her role in the legal department of the organization, saw her provide legal advice and support to the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in the development and administration of a number of notable funds including the Private Infrastructure Development Group – set up to facilitate private investment in the infrastructure needed to help alleviate poverty in developing countries and the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIM)– a $4 billion investment facility designed to accelerate the availability of funds to be used for health and immunisation programs in 70 of the world’s poorest countries.

She built a strong working relationshipwith the donors which included country donors like the UK, French and South African governments and private NGOs like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. These two funds in addition to her work on the Emerging African Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) influenced her decision to seek employment primarily with organizations who combined their corporate pursuits with a clear and effective social purpose.

After a period with City of London firms Denton Wilde,SapteLLP and Stephenson Harwood LLP working within their corporate departments, she relocated to Lagos, Nigeria in 2009 and joined the Legal team at Sahara Group as the third member of the then budding department.  She threw herself enthusiastically into the team work that was necessary to grow and nurture the unit’s human capital and widen the remit of its function to the international energy group as it spread inexorably across the energy value chain in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Pearl’s vast professional experience within the upstream, downstream and midstream sectors of the oil and gas industry, corporate law and international development culminated in her appointment as the Group’s Director forGovernance and Sustainability - a role which her professional pursuits and private passions seemed to have been leading up to in the period before hand.

She is married with a daughter.

Abdulrahman Mijinyawa (AR) is the Technical Planning Manager for Shell Nigeria E&P Company (SNEPCo) with accountability for integrated business planning and delivery to facilitate the creation, preservation and maximization of business value for all stakeholders in Shell’s deep-water Nigeria operations.

Prior to this, AR, who joined Shell in October 2005 as an SITP trainee, spent 2 years as senior reservoir engineer and head of Hydrocarbon Resource Management for the Bonga Asset – the first deep-water development in the Gulf of Guinea. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a master’s in petroleum engineering. Following the one-year Shell Intensive Training Program and a 12-month study leave, he began his Shell career in 2008 as a well-site petroleum engineer with the Shell Petroleum Development Company Port Harcourt, spending 4 years as an asset reservoir engineer before proceeding on an 18-month assignment in The Netherlands with Shell’s Global Projects & Technology unit in Rijswijk in 2012 where he studied the feasibility of improved oil recovery processes for mature onshore oil fields.

He returned to Port Harcourt in late 2013 to join the SPDC portfolio planning team as a senior portfolio advisor. Between then and early 2015, he worked on the SPDC strategy transformation program as well as new business development initiatives to unlock resources in SPDC’s on-shore and shallow water assets.

He has authored and co-authored many technical papers for the SPE on Pressure Transient Analysis and Automated History-Matching.

AR has a contagious passion global trends especially digitalization and the energy transition. In 2018, as part of the NAICE 2018, he conceived, organized and executed the first ever panel session on digitalization for the SPE Nigeria Council. He considers himself a digital technology enthusiast and continues to look for opportunities to build digital capability for himself and the local Nigerian economy.

Collins Alaka is the Asset Development manager, NOV onshore of Shell Petroleum Development company limited (SPDC).

He is an oil and gas industry professional with career spanning over 25 years from service and producing companies. His area of specialty includes: WRFM, well completion design, well intervention, Field development studies, waterflood, JV management and organization efficiency improvement.

He holds a postgraduate degree in Petroleum engineering.

Dr Kabir Mijinyawa is an information technology (IT) consultant, in the IT and energy sectors. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering, a master’s degree in computer science, and a PhD in information systems. His research work continues to receive a warm welcome among international and national peers, having published well accepted and widely cited conference and journal publications.

Recently, he has been researching artificial intelligence (AI) with a focus on machine learning, working with geographical dispersed entrepreneurs and business partners in the IT industry.

Prior, he was a computer science academic lecturer and mentor in the higher education sector. His research and publication interests include contemporary technology adoption in developing economies, acceptance of AI and challenges in practice in the energy sector, opportunities for advancing e-learning using AI solutions. He continues to research contemporary techniques for efficient e-learning.

He is a keen computer programmer particularly for development environments that enable optimum representation of physical objects through advanced object-oriented programming (OOP) techniques, including Python, Java, and C++. He continues to undertake hands-on programming projects related to developing services for the mobile platform, establishing enterprise class data digitization and integration solutions, and broader interests on AI solutions enabling enterprise digital transformation, particularly through digitalization, in the modern sense.

He is always excited about the next big-thing in processor technologies, advanced graphics in flight simulators, and AI assisted e-learning. He also enjoys advanced and smart technology sports, and participates in out-door sports including jogging, basketball and table-tennis.

Michael Adedokun Adegbite is a Deputy Director in Petroleum Training Institute Nigeria. His interest includes performance of welded joints. He has authored / co-authored over 30 papers, supervised graduate theses and conducted notable commissioned projects. Michael is a certified Welding Inspector (CSWIP 3.1) and holds BSc in Metallurgical Engineering, MSc in Welding, MSc in Offshore and Ocean Technology, and PhD in Corrosion Engineering. He chaired the Society of Petroleum Engineers Section 104 (2009 / 2010) and received many Distinguished Awards, including 2019 SPE Projects, Construction and Facilities Africa Region Award. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers and the Nigerian Metallurgical Society.

Emmanuel Okudor is the Principal Consultant of DM Sheffield Limited, an Oil and Gas consulting company providing Risk management, process safety & loss prevention engineering and natural gas services to the oil and gas, manufacturing and other industries in Nigeria.is also the Operations Director of Daniel Houston Engineering. An engineering company specialized in providing engineering and design, construction, installations and maintenance services.

He is the founder of the Process Safety and Loss Prevention Engineers Group and Natural Gas Professionals’ of Nigeria with over 1500 professional members globally.

He is a Certified and Registered Gas Distribution Professional (RGDP) - Gas Technology Institute USA; Process Safety and Loss Prevention trained Engineer - University of Sheffield, UK, QA/QC professional (Process piping, pipeline and pressure vessels experience).

He has 20years experience working in the Midstream, Downstream and Upstream sector of the oil and gas industry.

Emmanuel has facilitated over 30 HAZOP workshops as the chairman. This include HAZOP facilitation of 12 LNG regasification plants, Modular refinery, LPG plants and tank farms, Natural Gas plants, flowstations, storage tanks etc.

 He is a recipient of many awards such as the ‘’ Safety Personality Award ‘’, by the Nigeria Security and Safety Watch’’ , ‘’Recognition Award’’ by the Safety Record Group -’’ Promoter and driver of Process Safety Management and Loss Prevention in Nigeria, Ambassadorial Safety award by the World Health Organization, SPE Section 104 recognition Award, Role Model Excellence award by the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun etc.

 He has trained over 1000 oil and gas professionals in process safety, asset integrity, pipeline operations and maintenance, natural gas operations and safety, management of change and many others.

He is a member of many professional institutions such as: Nigeria Gas Association, SPE, Energy Institute UK, America Institute of Chemical Engineers, America Society of Mechanical Engineers, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Fellow of Emergency, Crises and Risk Management Institute, Fellow, Institute of Management Consultants etc.

Ukauku Ikwan is a consultant in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria and globally. He previously was Operation Reservoir Engineer at Total E&P Ltd and Reservoir Engineering Discipline Principal at The Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Ltd. Currently he is the Senior Reservoir Engineer Consultant at Eroton Exploration and Production on secondment from Deep Blue Energy Services Ltd.

He holds a B.Eng degree in Petroleum Engineering, MBA degree in Project Management Technology both from Federal University of Technology Owerri. In addition he holds M.Eng degree in Petroleum Engineering and PhD in Petroleum Economics both from University of Port Harcourt. He has more than 25 years of rewarding career experiences spanning Reservoir Engineering,E&P business, academia and consulting.

He has authored several technical papersand served as a technical reviewer for SPE Conference papers and the Energy Journal of International Association for Energy Economics. He is an active member of Society of Petroleum Engineers, Nigeria Society of Engineers, Nigeria/International Association for Energy Economics as well as registered with Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).Ukauku is happily married with four children.

Ezinne Nnebocha has been in the E&P industry for 15years and has worked for Schlumberger for 13yrs. She currently works in Angola as Schlumberger’s Production Domain Champion for Sub Saharan Africa whose job role includes optimizing sand-face completion designs, intelligent well designs, horizontal well and Inflow Control Device, production optimization/enhancement and well intervention planning.

Ezinne obtained her first degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Port-Harcourt Nigeria and a Master’s in Petroleum Engineering from Heriot Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering.

She has held the positions of Reservoir Engineer, Production and Reservoir Engineering Team Lead, Senior Production Stimulation Engineer and Completions Domain Champion. Ezinne has worked in several regions including Nigeria, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East; with experience spanning across Sandstone, Carbonate, Pre-Salt and Unconventional Formations.

Fanyama Alalibo Okoli is the Sub-Sahara Africa Drilling Solutions Technical Lead for Schlumberger. She has more than 15 years cognate experience in the Oil and Gas Industry and has held several technical and operational roles within and outside Nigeria.  In her current role, Fanyama drives digital transformation in well construction planning and operations, enabling the oil and gas industry transition to large scale efficiency gains and increase in profit margins through digital technology.

Fanyama obtained her first degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Port Harcourt Nigeria, and a Master’s in Petroleum Engineering from Heriot Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering. She has authored technical papers, and is an active board member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers Lagos Section. She has held leadership roles in Career Guidance, Student Affairs and Programs committees and has served as section secretary.

She has a wealth of experience in wellsite operations, drilling engineering, formation evaluation and Reservoir characterization. She has held roles as Borehole Reservoir Engineering Team Lead, Formation Evaluation Petrophysicist, Remote Operations Center of Excellence Lead Engineer and Wellsite Logging While Drilling Engineer.

Egbe Pringle is currently the Managing Director of PEGIS Global Services Limited a fast-growing indigenous Oil   and Gas Services company. Pringle is highly skilled oil and gas computing engineer with over 9 years varied experience in Europe and West Africa. He is highly proficient in big data system, software development, database management, software testing, software documentation, software law, well performance optimization, well completion design, well test design, and well test interpretation. In 2014, he brought his wealth of experience in software development to joined CypherCrescentLtd as a Petroleum Software Engineer.

Pringle Egbe is major facilitator of Excel for Petroleum Engineers, a short course series organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers Port Harcourt Section for more than 5 years now.Pringle has helped thousands of industries professional and students learn how to use Excel as a dynamic and powerful analytics tool and have developed personalized training programs for individuals, private groups, and businesses across the country. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Port Harcourt, M.Sc. in Oil and Gas Computing from Robert Gordon University Aberdeen, United Kingdom and Innovation Diploma in Petroleum Geoscience from Laser Geoscience School, Port Harcourt. He worked briefly as a Lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt between 2009 and 2011.

Pringle is an industry lecturer and Software coordinator at the Institute of Petroleum Studies (IPS), University of Port Harcourt. He is an active SPE member and has served in various board positions in SPE Section 103 Port Harcourt and SPE Nigeria council. He is a recipient of the SPE international young Member Outstanding Serves Award (2017).

Pringle is happily married to Mrs. Favour Pringle-Egbe and the marriage is blessed with a son Prince Zane Pringle-Egbe.

ThankGod Egbe, is the Technical Director of CypherCrescent Limited. As Technical Director, he leads CypherCrescent’s product vision, oversees technology development and champions the innovations in the company leveraging his triad expertise in petroleum engineering, applied mathematics & software development. He also leads the research & development directorate of the company in the development of cutting-edge well, reservoir & facility management (WRFM) software solutions for the E&P industry. With over 15 years of experience delivering high-profile technical services, ThankGod has worked closely with several E&P companies locally and globally to develop and implement technical/computing strategy to enhance production from existing assets via operationalization of WRFM using SEPAL (CypherCrescent’s flagship WRFM Digitalisation Software).

Prior to joining CypherCrescent in 2015, ThankGod worked for Shell International in Netherlands as a global consultant for Integrated Production System Modelling. While in Shell, he facilitated project reviews and trainings in key Shell Oil Field Management (OFM)/ Integrated Production System Modelling (IPSM) projects in over 12 countries covering all the continents of the world including the US, UK, China, Russia, Netherlands, Nigeria, New Zealand among others. ThankGod held various senior technical positions for Shell International and Shell Nigeria including oil field manager (OFM) global focal point, facility and reservoir models (MoReS/Eclipse/CMG-GAP) coupling global focal point and global subject matter expert in Integrated Production System Modelling.

Obianuju Igbokwe is Production Technologist with Schlumberger SIS with over 15years experience in the upstream sector of the Oil and Gas industry. She has functioned in various technical roles in the Subsurface and Surface domains and has carried out several projects in the areas of production optimization, reservoir characterization, field-wide development planning, asset evaluation and new business development. She holds a Master’s Degree in Petroleum Engineering and Project Management from the Institute of Petroleum Studies, a collaboration between IFP France and University of Port Harcourt. She is the current SPE Lagos Special Project Chairperson.

Professor Wumi Iledare has over 25 years of professional experience in petroleum economics. He Africa Region Director on the SPE International Board of Directors and the GNPC Chair in Oil and Gas Studies, University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Prof Iledare is the Chirota and Emmanuel Egbogah Distinguished Professor and former Director of Emerald Energy Institute, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He is also Professor Emeritus of Petroleum Economics and Policy Research at the Center for Energy Studies, Louisiana State University, USA. Iledare, an expert in international petroleum and fiscal system economics, petroleum project economics, risk and uncertainty analysis and geopolitics of oil and gas resources and supply, is a distinguished fellow and Immediate Past President of the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics (NAEE) and a Senior Fellow and the 2008 President of USAEE. Iledare is also the 2014 Chairman of the governing council; and the President of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE). He holds a B.Sc. degree in Petroleum Engineering with honors from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria; an M.S. in Energy Resources from University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering; and a Ph.D. in Mineral Economics from West Virginia University. He was an Associate Editor of the SPE Economics and Management Journal and a former editor of the USAEE Dialogue--a publication of the United States Association for Energy Economics. He served previously as Director of the U.S. Petroleum Technology Transfer Council (PTTC) for the U.S. Gulf Coast Central Region . Dr. Iledare was a petroleum/reservoir engineer for Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Nigeria, and a reservoir/production engineer trainee with Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN).

Raymond Lawani is a seasoned Sand Control Engineer with more than 13 years worldwide experience in Sand Control Treatment Design, Execution and Evaluation for Schlumberger Oilfield Service. He has successfully designed and executed several Sand Control Treatment for both Local and Multinational Clients in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroun, Italy, Norway and Trinidad. He has held both Management and Technical Sales position in Sand Control for Schlumberger both locally and internationally and is currently a Senior Technical and Sales Engineer for Schlumberger Nigeria Limited. He has delivered several presentations on Sand Control Techniques at SPE and NAPE Conferences in Nigeria. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Benin and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Lagos Business School.

Samuel Aderemi is the Reservoir Engineering Technical Leader SIS, Sub Sahara Africa. He is a versatile reservoir engineer with over 15 years of extensive expertise in the fields of classical reservoir engineering, reservoir modeling, geostatistics, production surveillance, uncertainty analysis and optimization techniques.

He was involved in number of FDP studies as workflow consultant and later joined the reservoir engineering training team to develop reservoir engineering training contents for Schlumberger.

Sofyan Salem is currently the Petroleum Engineering Business owner in Sub-Sahara Africa region.  His expertise and experience spans a wide area of Petroleum Engineering practice including Production Engineering and Optimization, flow assurance, Integrated Asset Management, Reservoir Surveillance, Workflows Solution Design, and Digital Oilfield Framework Design.  He holds a Bachelor Degree in Petroleum Engineering from Sirte University, Libya and a Master’s Degree in Reservoir Engineering from Nancy University, France.

Joe has over 30 years of oil and gas industry experience and is Lead Partner at Zera Advisory, Lagos. He had previously served as a Special Adviser, Policy, Gas and Power to the former Honorable Minister of State, Petroleum Resources and as Reservoir Engineering Advisor at Exxonmobil Nigeria.

Joe holds a Bachelors and Masters of Engineering Degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri and a Masters of Business Administration Degree from Lincoln University, USA.

He worked twenty years with ExxonMobil and its affiliates across the technical disciplines of Well Engineering, Reservoir Engineering and Management, Workover planning and execution, Field and Production Operations, Metering, Data Management and technical computing, Field Development and strategic planning, etc. He has had extensive local and international technical and executive training at institutions such as the Halliburton Energy Institute, Oklahoma, Mobil Exploration and Production Technical Centre, Dallas and Exxonmobil Upstream Research Centre, Houston and worked assets in Nigeria, USA (Bakken), Alaska(Hibernia), Russian (Sakhlin), Angola and Equatorial Guinea.

Joe has authored and co-authored several papers in the area of Well Engineering, Reservoir Simulation and Management, Nigerian Gas Market development, Oil and Gas Policy, Industry governance and Regulation and contributed to the development of the new national Oil, Gas and Fiscal policies, Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialization Program, and other Nigerian Oil and Gas sector reform initiatives especially in areas of Fiscal framework, Industry governance and structure, Licensing and acreage management, Regulations and Regulatory framework, Domestic Gas Market development etc

He is a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Society of Petroleum Engineers, International Association of Energy Economists, and a COREN Registered Engineer. He is presently the Council Chairman of SPE Nigeria.