Profile Of The New NNPCL Boss Bashir Ojulari

Profile Of The New NNPCL Boss, Bashir Ojulari

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Bashir Ojulari as the new Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). This appointment was announced by Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, through an official statement issued on Wednesday….READ MORE….

According to Onanuga, President Tinubu exercised the authority conferred by Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, to make the appointment. In doing so, Tinubu relieved Mele Kyari of his position as NNPCL GMD and also dissolved the company’s board, including its chairman, Pius Akinyelure. An 11-member board has been reconstituted, with Ojulari’s appointment effective from April 2, 2025.

Bashir Ojulari, a native of Kwara State, is a highly experienced Nigerian engineer specializing in petroleum, process, and production engineering. Prior to his current role, he served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company. Notably, his company recently led a consortium of indigenous energy firms to acquire Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, a transaction valued at $2.4 billion.

Ojulari is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He commenced his professional journey as the first Nigerian process engineer at Elf Aquitaine and later joined Shell Petroleum Development Company in 1991 as an associate production technologist.

Career Achievements

Ojulari is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers and has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigeria Council) from 1998 to 1999. His career includes several managerial roles in Europe and the Middle East, focusing on petroleum engineering, process engineering, production engineering, and health and safety.

In November 2015, Ojulari was appointed Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) and General Manager of Deepwater. He also served on the board of Shell Petroleum Development Company, where he was responsible for overseeing onshore and offshore petroleum engineering, technical integration of development, well engineering, and project engineering.

Throughout his career, Ojulari has demonstrated expertise as a petroleum process and production engineer, strategic planner, field developer, and asset manager, both within Nigeria and internationally.