Meet Nigeria’s Adeyemi-Bero, new chair of OPEC Board of Governors

Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, who was confirmed as Nigeria’s new governor for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Tuesday, has been appointed as the chairman of the cartel’s Board of Governors for 2025.

Adeyemi-Bero is a veteran oil and gas executive with over three decades of experience across the Nigerian and international environment. He is the founder/managing director and chief executive of FIRST Exploration & Petroleum Development Company Limited (FIRST E&P), a Nigerian independent exploration and production company and the operator of the NNPC-FIRST E&P OML 83 and OML 85 Joint Venture.

He is the immediate past chairman of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group, a group of Nigerian indigenous upstream E&P companies that are increasingly relevant players in the Nigerian oil and gas sector. 

Prior to founding FIRST E&P, he served as the president/managing director of British Gas Exploration and Production Company Nigeria with responsibility for the integrated gas, exploration and production businesses of the British Gas Group in Nigeria. 

He commenced his professional career with Shell where he worked for two decades, occupying several significant roles in different countries including Business Director/Board Executive of Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited and Vice President – New Business Development in Africa with Shell International E&P.

He sits on several boards and governing councils including ND Western Limited, West African Exploration and Production Company Limited, Bristow helicopters Nigeria Limited, Society of Petroleum Engineers in Nigeria, and Nigeria Natural Resource Charter. 

He holds a BSc in Offshore Civil Engineering from Heriot-Watt University, Scotland, an MSc in Petroleum Engineering from the Imperial College of Science & Technology, University of London and an Executive MBA from IMD Lausanne, Switzerland and Wharton Business School.