Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The Managing Director of Oando Energy Resources and Executive Director of Oando Plc, Dr Ainojie Irune, has been appointed to the governing board of the World Energy Council’s Nigerian Member Committee, as Nigeria renews its participation in the global energy organisation.
The governing board of the Nigerian Member Committee was inaugurated in Abuja on August 7, with Abdulrazaq Isa, co-founder of Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited, emerging as chairman.
The committee’s membership also includes Bala Wunti, formerly Chief HSE Officer at NNPC Limited, who serves as chief executive, as well as Prof. Wumi Iledare, Dr Mustapha Abdullahi, Mrs Aisha Katagum, Dr Emmanuel Okon, Dr Victor Ekpenyong and Dr Imamuddeen Talba.
The composition brings together professionals from the energy industry, policy, academia and private enterprise, with the committee expected to represent Nigeria in the World Energy Council’s international energy discussions.
Irune’s appointment brings to the committee an executive who has been closely involved in that transition. At 45, he has risen through strategic, corporate and upstream roles at Oando to become head of the company’s energy resources business, an Oando statement said.
Trained as a computer scientist, Irune holds a doctorate from the University of Nottingham and began his professional career in technology and automotive research in the United Kingdom, where he worked with Nissan, Honda and Jaguar Land Rover before returning to Nigeria.
He subsequently joined Oando, where he held positions spanning corporate communications, strategy and upstream operations. His career at the company has coincided with two major transactions that reshaped Oando’s upstream portfolio.
In 2014, Oando completed the $1.5 billion acquisition of ConocoPhillips’ Nigerian upstream business, a transaction that significantly expanded the indigenous company’s position in the sector.
A decade later, Oando completed its $783 million acquisition of Nigerian Agip Oil Company from Eni in 2024. The transaction increased Oando’s participating interests in OMLs 60 to 63 from 20 per cent to 40 per cent and substantially expanded its upstream operations.
Irune, as Managing Director of Oando Energy Resources, was involved in leading the completion of the acquisition.
His new role on the World Energy Council committee comes against the backdrop of this broader shift in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, with indigenous companies assuming greater ownership and operational responsibility for assets previously controlled by international oil companies.
Beyond corporate operations, Irune has also participated in discussions on Africa’s energy transition, advocating an approach that takes into account the continent’s energy access and industrialisation needs.
He has highlighted the role of gas in supporting Africa’s economic development and the need for African energy companies to retain a greater share of the value generated from the continent’s natural resources.
Through the Nigerian Member Committee, Nigeria will reconnect with the World Energy Council’s global network, which brings together more than 100 countries to discuss energy security, access, sustainability and the future development of the sector.
Irune’s two-year tenure on the committee is expected to provide another platform for him to contribute to discussions on energy access, gas development, industrialisation and the increasing role of indigenous companies in Africa’s energy industry.