Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan: Forced Out of NNPC, Chosen for NUPRC Top Job a Year Later
Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan has been nominated to lead the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) just over a year after a shakeup at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company saw her lose her job as executive vice president in charge of upstream operations.
Eyesan, who spent nearly 33 years with the NNPC and its subsidiaries, previously served as group general manager, corporate planning and strategy at the national oil company from 2019 to 2023.
As chief strategy and sustainability officer, she led NNPC’s sustainability journey following the transition of the energy giant from a statutory corporation to a limited liability company.
She has led teams that developed corporate strategy, influenced government policies, regulations, and laws, while orchestrating commercial agreements (including infrastructure development for local and multinational projects) in processes that require extensive stakeholder management and dexterity in communication for impact.
She midwifed the first-ever non-associated gas commercialisation in Nigeria, delivered the renewal of Nigeria’s deepwater production sharing contracts in record time, paving the way for over $10 billion in ecofriendly investments.
She led NNPC’s acquisition of equity in Dangote, and other refineries, while driving the strategic, fiscal, commercial, and regulatory conversations that led to the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act, which creates a workable nexus among sustainable operations, social relationships and environmental protection.
She is a seasoned strategy and corporate planning practitioner. A graduate of Economics from the University of Benin, Eyesan is a member of the Strategic Management Society and the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
