Who is Bayo Ojulari – The New NNPC Head

On Wednesday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer (Group CEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, succeeding Mele Kyari.

This appointment is part of a significant restructuring of the NNPC board, which also led to the removal of Group Chairman Chief Pius Akinyelure and the dismissal of other board members who were appointed alongside him in November 2023.

In an official statement, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, confirmed that Ojulari will now assume leadership as the CEO of the national oil company.

What You Need to Know About New NNPC GCEO, Bayo Ojulari

Bayo Ojulari hails from Kwara State in North Central Nigeria and holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Ojulari is married with children, enjoys spending time at the beach, listens to music, and is currently working on returning to golfing.

Career

Ojulari’s career in the oil and gas sector began at Elf Aquitaine, where he worked as a fresh graduate from September 1989 to October 1991. During his studies in Mechanical Engineering between 1985 and 1989, he became the company’s first Nigerian process engineer.

His professional journey extends beyond Nigeria, having worked in Europe and the Middle East in various roles.

Mr. Ojulari is recognized as an energy expert and describes himself as “a business leader with a proven track record in the global energy sector.”

Over the years, he has taken on various roles in petroleum processing, production engineering, strategic planning, field development, and asset management.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Ojulari spent more than 24 years at global oil giant Shell, ultimately becoming the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) in November 2015, a position he held until July 2021.

His LinkedIn profile shows that he first joined Shell in November 1991 as an Associate Production Technologist at Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) after leaving Elf Petroleum Nigeria.

Upon joining Shell, he rose to become a member of the Integrated Studies Team at Shell headquarters in the Netherlands in June 1994, where he worked until October 1995.

Between April 1997 and November 1999, he served as Head of Planning Economics and Budgeting at SPDC Nigeria. Following this, he became the Asset Leader and Head of Production Technologist at Shell in Oman from December 1999 to September 2003.

He later took on the role of Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Planner at Shell headquarters in October 2003, holding this position until December 2004.

From January 2005 to October 2008, he served as Manager of Corporate Planning and Strategy at SPDC Nigeria, while also briefly taking on the role of Asset Production Technologist from November 2006 to March 2007.

At Shell, Ojulari remained in Nigeria from 2008, first becoming the Manager of Asset Development (Onshore and Shallow Water) at SPDC Nigeria, a role he held from October 2008 to October 2010.

He went on to become the Development Director at SPDC Nigeria from January 2010 to October 2015, after which he was promoted to Managing Director of SNEPCo from November 2015 to July 2021.

Following his departure from Shell, he founded BAT Advisory and Energy Company Nigeria Ltd in September 2021 and served as the company’s board chairman. The firm primarily provided consultancy services to businesses in the oil and gas/energy sector.

In January 2024, Ojulari was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company, a position he held until his appointment as NNPC’s Group CEO.

He only recently announced his role at Renaissance Africa on LinkedIn, noting:

“It’s been a while since I started my role at Renaissance Africa Energy Company as an Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, but I wanted to share this update with everyone.”

Ojulari joined Renaissance Africa during the company’s acquisition of a Shell asset in Nigeria. As announced by Shell, “Renaissance now controls SPDC’s 30% stake in the SPDC JV, an unincorporated joint venture with the government-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (55%), Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd (10%), and Agip Energy and Natural Resources (Nigeria) Limited (5%).”