Elohor Aiboni becomes first female MD of SNEPCo

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) has appointed Elohor Aiboni as its managing director with effect from August 1, 2021.

Bamidele Odugbesan, media relations manager of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), announced her appointment in a statement on Sunday.

Elohor is the first female to lead the Shell exploration company, in the more than six decades of the oil firm’s operations in Nigeria.

She succeeds Bayo Ojulari, who retired on July 31, after five years as SNEPCo MD, having served the Shell group for more than 30 years.

According to Odugbesan, Elohor now joins over 300 women in senior leadership positions in the Shell Group, representing more than 31 percent of the company’s executive positions.

Prior to her new appointment, Aiboni served as the asset operations manager of Bonga, a deepwater floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel operated by Shell in Nigeria.

“Elohor’s appointment is a product of diligence, competence and commitment to the Shell ideals and core values, amidst our strong focus on diversity and inclusion,” the statement quoted Marno de Jong, Shell’s senior vice president for Nigeria, as saying.

“We take pride in our intention of being one of the most diverse and inclusive organisations in the world, and focus on further improving inclusion and representation in critical areas, including gender.”

She is said to have had a 19-year career in Shell, which saw her move from a field engineer to several roles in production operations; project and asset management; operations readiness and assurance.

“She was at a time the Business Adviser to the Executive Vice President for Shell Sub-Saharan Africa, and had also managed third-party interface across several Shell assets in Nigeria and Kazakhstan,” the statement further reads.

“Prior to her role as Bonga Asset Manager, Elohor led production delivery for shallow offshore as Asset Manager for Sea Eagle FPSO in Nigeria’s Niger Delta.

“Elohor holds a master’s degree in Integrated Environmental Management from the University of Bath, UK, and a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Benin, Nigeria.

“She is passionate about developing talent and leads a diverse team that strives to simplify work processes and pursue continuous improvements.

“Her leadership of the Bonga team had seen the asset receive numerous awards, including the CEO HSSE Awards, Upstream Impact Award, and the Asset of the Year Runner up in 2019, in the Shell Group.”