The Managing Director of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria (SCiN), Mr. Osagie Okunbor, has been named the sole recipient of the H. E. Dr Alirio Parra Lifetime Achievement Award in Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry for 2022.

Named in honour of the late Venezuelan Minister of Petroleum and one of the founding fathers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the award is the most prestigious recognition for an individual or organisation who has made notable contributions to the development of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

The award to Okunbor was the climax of the closing events for the 21st edition of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition (NOG ’22) held in Abuja on Thursday and aptly tagged “Nights of Tributes” in honour of the late Secretary-General of OPEC, Dr. Sanusi Barkindo, who passed on Tuesday night after he had delivered the keynote address earlier in the day at the opening ceremony of the conference.

An elated but surprised Okunbor expressed gratitude to the Industry and event organisers, under the principal sponsorship of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, for considering him worthy of the recognition. Winners of the award are nominated from online votes by industry participants to the Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition.

Amidst applause, Okunbor said, “”I am immensely grateful for the recognition and honour.”

Okunbor joined energy giant, Shell, in 1986 and has since worked in Nigeria, the UK, Brunei and the Netherlands in various capacities within the Shell Group before his appointment as Managing Director, SPDC, and Country Chair, SCiN on March 1, 2015.

In winning the H. E. Dr Alirio Parra Lifetime Achievement Award in Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry for 2022, Okunbor joins a distinguished list of previous winners including The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, and past Group Managing Director of the NNPC, the late Dr. Kachalla Maikanti Baru.

Okunbor was in 2021 honoured with the Distinguished Alumnus Award by the University of Benin, and the Award for Excellence and Integrity in Corporate Leadership by the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun. A human resource professional, Okunbor had also been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to the Development of HR in Nigeria by the HR People Magazine.