By Adewale Sanyaolu\n<\/p>\n
Global energy major, Shell has appointed former Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SN EPCo), Elohor Aiboni, as Executive Vice President and Country Chair Nigeria.\n<\/p>\n
The appointment makes her the first Nigerian and first woman to hold the combined position in the company\u2019s more than six decades of operations in the country.<\/p>\n
The appointment takes effect from August 1, 2026.
Aiboni succeeds outgoing Executive Vice President and Country Chair Nigeria, Marno de Jong, who is leaving Shell after a distinguished 34-year career with the company.\n<\/p>\n
Aiboni brings a rare blend of operational, technical and international leadership experience gained across Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Brunei.\n<\/p>\n
With over 24 years in the Shell Group, Aiboni has built an impressive record across the company\u2019s offshore, shallow-water and onshore operations.<\/p>\n
In 2021, she made history as the first female Managing Director of SNEPCo, Shell\u2019s deepwater subsidiary in Nigeria, becoming the first woman to lead a Shell exploration company in Nigeria.\n<\/p>\n
Under her leadership, the flagship Bonga deepwater asset achieved the landmark production of its one-billionth barrel of oil in 2023 while maintaining strong operational performance.\n<\/p>\n
She later moved to Brunei Shell Petroleum in 2024 as Asset Director, where she has been responsible for asset performance, production delivery and project execution.\n<\/p>\n
Industry observers view her return to Nigeria as a strategic move at a critical period for Shell\u2019s business, as the company advances major investment projects including Bonga North and offshore gas developments aimed at boosting Nigeria\u2019s energy output.\n<\/p>\n
Announcing the transition, Marno de Jong expressed confidence in his successor\u2019s ability to build on recent gains.
\u201cI leave with fond memories of warm friendships and strong support from colleagues in Shell and our partners. I\u2019m confident that Shell operations in Nigeria will continue to deliver value and growth under Elohor, given the strong leadership credentials she brings to the roles,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
De Jong, who joined Shell in 1992, led the company\u2019s Nigerian operations through a period of significant transformation, overseeing strong performance at the Bonga asset and helping advance key investment decisions, including the HI gas project and the Bonga North development.\n<\/p>\n
Responding to her appointment, Aiboni pledged to build on the foundation laid by her predecessor.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited at the opportunity to continue to contribute to the efficient delivery of Shell\u2019s business in Nigeria and thereby power progress in a country we\u2019ve been part of for more than 60 years. Marno has led from his heart these six-plus years, sustaining operations and breaking new ground in project delivery and growth. It\u2019s a legacy I\u2019m keen to build on with the support of colleagues and other stakeholders,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n
Aiboni\u2019s appointment further reinforces the growing influence of Nigerian professionals in the global energy industry and represents a major milestone for diversity and local leadership within Shell\u2019s worldwide operations.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Adewale Sanyaolu Global energy major, Shell has appointed former Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[20685],"tags":[1150,4496,22782,22785,7401,22781,22783,22784],"class_list":["post-64939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-shell","tag-shell","tag-shell-plc","tag-sun-newspapers","tag-sunnewsonline-com","tag-the-sun","tag-the-sun-nigeria","tag-thesun","tag-thesun-ng"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116765802010029509","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}