Energy giant Shell has committed to divesting its onshore oil and gas assets in Nigeria for $2.4 billion, indicating a strategic move away from onshore oil production.
A consortium, led by the Nigerian independent energy firm Renaissance Oil and including ND Western, Aradel Energy, First E&P, Waltersmith, and Petrolin, marks a significant transformation in Nigeria’s oil industry landscape.
Here are the titans behind Renaissance
Samuel Dossou Aworet
Samuel Dossu Aworet is the Chairman/founder of the Petrolin Group of Companies.
With more than 40 years of experience in the mining and oil industries, Aworet holds degrees from the Ecole Centrale de Marseille in Petrochemistry and Industrial Organic Synthesis and the French Institute of Petroleum (ENSPM 1972).
Read also: Shell $2.4bn asset sale spotlights local firms
He held the positions of Chairman of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) Board of Governors, and Chairman of the Expert Committee of the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO/APPA).
Dossou Aworet was the African Petroleum Institute’s first chairman as well as one of its founding members. He is a member of the African Energy Leaders Group – West Africa (AELG) and the board of the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA).
Layi Fatona
Layi Fatona is a retired petroleum geologist who was an entrepreneur with more than 48 years of experience in the oil sector.
Having served as the company’s founding managing director since 1994, he recently announced his resignation from The Niger Delta Group of Companies.
He received a bachelor’s degree in 1973 from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, where he studied geology.
After that, he graduated from the University of London’s Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine’s Royal School of Mines with a Master of Science (MSc) in petroleum geology and a Doctorate (PhD) in sedimentology in 1980.
He is the former president and chairman of Geotrex Systems Limited, a firm of Exploration and Production Consultant, which he joined after working with the Petroleum Engineering and Exploration Departments of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), for seven years.
He is currently the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of ND Western Limited.
Abdulrazaq Isa
Abdulrazaq Isa is the Chairman and Co-Founder of Waltersmith Group of Companies.
He is an entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in business, financial services, and the oil & gas industry.
Isa founded Waltersmith with a focus on many economic areas, such as manufacturing, real estate, hospitality, agriculture, and upstream and midstream oil and gas.
Abdulrazaq belongs to several professional associations, such as the Institute of Directors (IOD), the Energy Institute (EI), and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).
He is the Second Vice Chairman of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) and a Board of Trustee member of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group of Nigeria (IPPG).
Read also: Meet the five potential buyers for Shell $2.4bn assets
Ademola Adeyemi-Bero
Ademola Adeyemi-Bero is the managing director of FIRST Exploration & Petroleum Development Company Limited (FIRST E&P).
He has a Bachelor of Science (Offshore) Civil Engineering degree from Heriot-Watt University, Scotland, and a Master of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Imperial College of Science & Technology, University of London, England.
Ademola was the President of British Gas (BG). Before BG, he spent about 20 years with Shell, where he occupied significant roles in several countries.
Gbite Falade
Gbite Falade is the managing director/chief executive officer of Aradel Energy.
He graduated from the University of Ibadan with a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and also has an MBA from Warwick Business School in Coventry, UK.
Falade was previously the Managing Director and Group Chief Operating Officer at Oilserv Group of Companies.
Before that, he had held several positions at Oando Energy Resources, including Executive Director of Oando Gas & Power and General Manager, Portfolio Development and Chief Operating Officer (COO).
He also served as Shell EP, Africa’s Petroleum Economics Discipline & Portfolio Lead.
Tony Attah
Tony Attah is the Vice President of Bonny Gas Transport and the former Managing Director of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG).
He graduated from the University of Ibadan with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and the University of Benin with a master’s degree in business administration.
In addition to being a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), he is also a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE) and the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
Read also: Aradel Holding confirms Shell acquisition deal
Bayo Bashir Ojulari
Bayo Ojulari is the former managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo).
He is a business leader in the Upstream Oil and Gas industry with over 32 years of diverse experience in Petroleum Exploration, Development, and Production management.
His experience covered leadership positions in Nigeria, Europe, and the Middle East, with a track record of performance in diverse Technical, Management, and Leadership through, excellent interpersonal, communication, and networking skills.
He is a former Chairman of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigeria Council), a member of the Board of Trustees of SPE, and a fellow of the Nigeria Society of Engineers.
Eberechukwu Oji
Eberechukwu Oji assumed the role of Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) at ND Western in March 2020.
With a wealth of expertise spanning over 25 years in the Oil and Gas sector, he holds the title of a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers and is a Chartered Engineer with The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN.
His academic background includes a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Warwick University, UK, a Masters in Technology (MTech) in Petroleum Engineering from Curtin University, Australia, a Masters in Engineering (MEng) in Electrical & Electronics Engineering, and a Bachelors in Engineering (BEng) in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from the Universities of Benin and Federal University of Technology Owerri, respectively.
Before joining ND Western, his professional journey featured roles such as Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Neconde Energy Limited, overseeing Exploration and Production Oil and Gas accountability from Reservoir to Export Point operations.
In addition, he held senior executive leadership positions in Upstream and Midstream Oil & Gas, managed Operations at the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) plant, and served as the Regional Discipline Manager for Maintenance for Shell Companies in Nigeria and Gabon.
Also, he acted as the Asset Manager for SPDC Central Hub Asset, responsible for facilities producing over 1.2 billion standard cubic feet per day (bscf/d) of gas and 50,000 barrels of oil per day (kbopd).
His experience extends to Major Project Management, where he played a key role as the Operations Readiness Lead for Offshore, Maintenance, HSE, and Logistics in the Kashagan Project, Kazakhstan.
