ALL is set for a change of baton at the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) as the incumbent Managing Director, Mr. Chimaobi Jonathan Ibeneche, plans his exit for January 31.Ibeneche will be handing over the management of the NLNG affairs to Mr. Babs Jolayemi Omotowa after 46-month tour of duty at the company.Until his appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria LNG Limited, Omotowa, 45, was Vice President, Health, Safety, Environment, Infrastructure and Logistics for Shell companies in Sub-Sahara Africa.NLNG is a Nigerian Joint Venture company, whose shareholders are the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (49 per cent), Shell Gas B.V. (25.6 per cent), Total LNG Nigeria Limited (15 per cent) and ENI International (N.A.) S.a.r.l (10.4 per cent).Sources within the company, at the weekend, hinted that the staff would be holding an elaborate programme to celebrate what they referred to as his achievements for the country while on duty at the NLNG. The events marking Ibeneche's exit will begin on January 16 and terminate in Bonny on January 31.A senior management staff of the company said Ibeneche would be celebrated 'because of his work in domesticating deep-water, off-shore oil development technology in the country.'Nigeria is reaping a whopping 225,000 bpd of crude oil for export from Bonga, a project he executed at SNEPCo,' the source observed.Other landmark achievements of the NLNG Managing Director, according to the source, include his effective headship of Africa's biggest private industrial project that successfully weathered the global recession.Under Ibeneche's watch, the NLNG retained its impressive market share of the world's LNG business.NLNG supplies about 10 per cent of the world's LNG, 70 per cent of Nigeria's cooking gas, and accounts for seven per cent of the country's GDP. He said: ''There is greater transparency in oil and gas business,' as 'he (Ibeneche) pioneered the tradition of principled professionalism ' standing with countrymen, serving the corporations, working for the good of Nigeria, working for the profitability of the corporation.'The source further noted that 'Mr. Ibeneche's service has been outstanding, and it's a mark of his generosity that he accepted to serve an additional six months at the behest of the Board of Directors. Seen now, at a distance, and with benefits of hindsight, his strengths as a man and as a leader are only more impressive.'We shall miss that grave expression that sometimes comes over his face, the seriousness of a man angered by sloppiness, prejudice or injustice ' and frightened by nothing. We shall miss his kindly presence, his reassuring voice. We are happy that he is leaving on that happy note we have always wished for him. We are also happy that he will hand over to a safe pair of hands ' Mr. Babs Omotowa,' the source said.Omotowa comes to NLNG as the second Nigerian Managing Director from Shell, NLNG's Technical Adviser. Sources within the company say he plans to further consolidate on successes recorded by the company and to make it 'even more successful and bring more value to customers, shareholders, communities and the Nigerian economy.'Omotowa had joined SPDC in 1993 as management trainee and rose rapidly to Senior, Operations positions in Warri, before proceeding on international assignment with Shell in United Kingdom, Holland and Norway, serving variously as Production Asset Manager, Shipping Manager and Business Improvement Manager. In Europe, he was renowned for his re-engineering and successful turnaround performances.Omotowa returned to Nigeria in 2006 as General Manager Supply Chain for SNEPCo and SPDC and was subsequently appointed a Director of SPDC in 2008. He distinguished himself with his work on contracting of goods and services to support production operations, major projects and services across both JV and PSC operations, including the EPC for the Gbaran Ubie gas project, Afam Power plant, among others.In 2010, he was appointed Director of the West African Pipeline Company (WAPCO). As Vice President, Omotowa led an immensely successful effort to improve Health, Safety and Environmental procedures and processes in SPDC. It is to his credit that work related fatalities were drastically minimised. Under his watch, SPDC recorded 600 days without a single fatality, a major feat in a company that previously reported deaths of between 10 and 20 persons a year. He was also instrumental to the increased transparency and external verification of the company's environmental performance.Ibeneche had spent 26 years of his career with Shell and three years with Schlumberger where he started out in 1978 after graduating with a degree in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.In 1986, shortly after joining Shell, Ibeneche was sent overseas on assignment as Senior Petrophysicist, Land Operations, in the Nederlandse Aardolle Maatschaappij - a Shell/Esso company in Assen, Northern Netherlands. He returned to Nigeria in 1989 to become the Divisional Chief Petrophysicist in charge of all sub-surface formation well data acquisition.He was later appointed Chief Petroleum Engineer in the Western Division of SPDC, a position in which he planned the development of hydrocarbon resources, managed the execution of the development projects and drilled the first horizontal well in Shell's operations in Nigeria.In 1994, he went overseas once again, on assignment as Petroleum Economist, Europe and Africa, at the Shell International Headquarters in The Hague, Holland. There, he analysed the economic performance of Shell companies in Europe, advised on the required level of investment or divestment in those companies and was also involved with starting new Shell companies as well as negotiating the fiscal and economic terms for entry into the countries involved.Ibeneche returned in 1996 to become the Acting Petroleum Engineering Manager, Western Division, and subsequently, Human Resources Manager, where he handled the entire range of Human Resource Management of the Division, which employed some 2,000 people.In 1999, Ibeneche became Deputy Development Director and Corporate Well Engineering Manager at SPDC, a post he held until 2002 when he was made Services Director, an executive position in which he was in charge of IT, logistics, aviation, office and residential estates and welfare services.In 2004, he became the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), the company that pioneered offshore and deepwater exploration in the country. Nigeria today reaps a highly significant volume of crude oil for export from the Bonga deepwater project.
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