President Bola Tinubu has reconstituted the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), removing Mele Kyari as the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO).

He appointed Bayo Ojulari as the new NNPC GCEO, tasking him with crude oil output for Nigeria.

Tinubu sacks Mele Kyari, replaces him with Ojulari

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.

Ojulari’s 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.

Experts believe Ojulari’s record of delivering results in tough environments makes him the ideal leader to take NNPC through the challenges.

Kyari gives update on reviewers' fate, comparing NNPC fuel

Legit.ng earlier reported that the group chief executive officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mele Kyari, has revealed that security and legal actions have been taken against those misleading Nigerians about the company.

Legit.ng had reported that a recent viral video compared petrol from the Dangote refinery and NNPC filling stations, showing that NNPC allegedly has a higher burn rate than Dangote fuel.

The national oil company immediately discredited the video, calling it amateurish and baseless.