Shell has named Elohor Aiboni as the Managing Director of its Nigeria deepwater business, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited, with effect from August 1.

The global energy giant announced this on Sunday in a statement, describing Aiboni as the first female to lead a Shell exploration company in the over 60 years of Shell’s operations in Nigeria.

She succeeds Bayo Ojulari, who retired on July 31, after five years as SNEPCo’s MD and over 30 years of service in the Shell group, according to the statement.

Shell said until the appointment, Aiboni was the Bonga Asset manager responsible for overseeing end-to-end production delivery for Nigeria’s pioneer deep-water Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel, Bonga, an offshore asset that had produced over 900 million barrels of oil since it began operations in 2005.

Shell’s Senior Vice President for Nigeria, Marno de Jong, said, “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.

“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.”

According to the statement, Aiboni joins over 300 women in senior leadership positions in the Shell Group representing more than 31 per cent of executive positions in the leading global energy company.