Mason Oghenejobo is the founder and Chairman at Better Than Gold Institute, bringing experience from previous roles at Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd. Mason Oghenejobo holds a Doctor of Strategic Leadership (DSL) in Strategy, Leadership, Enterprenuership from School of Business and Leadership, Regent University, Virginia Beach, USA. With a robust skill set that includes Business Strategy, Management Consulting, Coaching, Entrepreneurship, Change Management and more

Dr. Ferdinand is the Founder and the current MD/CEO of UDIPPCO (i.e. UD Integrated Petroleum Production Company of Nigeria Limited), an independent E & P operating company based in Lagos which he is using to offer services to petroleum and energy asset owners. He has had over 40 years of hands-on experiences as a petroleum and energy industries’ practitioner while working for Shell and Sterling Group in petroleum and energy development projects, planning and economics across 4 continents (Africa, Asia (Middle East), Europe and America).

Ferdinand worked for Shell in Nigeria, the Sultanate of Oman and Holland from 1981 to 2010, starting as an exploration geologist/seismologist and rose to become the Exploration Team Leader, Portfolio Manager and the Gas Exploration Manager for Shell Companies in Nigeria (SCIN). He branched out of Exploration into Shell’s Planning and Economics as Head of Planning/Economics for Shell’s Western Division. From there he moved on to become Shell’s Regional General Manager for Planning, Economics and Strategy for all Shell companies in Sub-Sahara Africa before he was appointed into the board of Shell EP Africa (SEPA) in January 2006 as the Director and member of board of directors responsible for regional planning and economics in SEPA. He left Shell to join Sterling Group in March 2010 as the Group’s Vice President and COO (Chief Operating Officer).

While in Sterling Group (SEEPCO) from year 2010 to 2020, Ferdinand led the Group’s exploration and development teams to explore, develop and start oil and gas production in OML 143 (from Okwuibome, Anieze, Ameshi and Enyi Oil Fields) and OML 146 (from Agu Oil Field), growing the Group’s oil production from zero in 2010 to 55 Mb/d in 2018, all of which were exported through the crude oil barging system he set up for SEEPCO. He also built-up Sterling Group’s operated oil block’s portfolio from 2 blocks in 2010 to 7 blocks in 2019. In 2018, he became the Major Projects Manager for SEEPCO’s two major projects, a 1.5 Tcf Gas development project in Kwale and NPDC-SEEPCO’s joint project for OML 13 Re-entry, a 3.3 billion US $ Project, and he did this job until July 2020 when he retired from Sterling Group. On retiring from Sterling Group, he resumed in UDIPPCO as the MD/CEO and currently working to replicate through UDIPPCO the huge successes he achieved for Sterling Group.

Ferdinand has BSc in Geology from University of Benin, Nigeria; PhD in Petroleum Seismology from Pacific Western University, California, USA and Diploma in Fundamentals of LNG and Gas Value Chain studies from IBC Academy in London, UK. He is calm, unassuming, reliable, trust worthy and vastly experienced as Sterling Group found out and gave him positions of high responsibility in their E & P businesses.

Tony is an experienced energy industry expert with over 45 years in various sectors of the energy industry both in Nigeria and internationally. He was seconded to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in April 2004 by Shell International Gas Limited, as Technical Adviser and Executive Assistant to the Presidential Adviser on Petroleum and Energy. He joined the Federal Civil Service in June 2005 when he was appointed Director of Petroleum Resources. In February 2010, he was also appointed Chairman of the Implementation Committee of the Imo Refinery and Petrochemical Project and in October 2011, Tony was appointed Director Tenoil Petroleum and Energy Services Limited. In addition, he serves on the board of Transcorp Afam Power Limited, Kenda Capital BV Nigeria Limited, Director of Sterling Global Exploration and Energy Production Company Limited and AMG Exploration and Production Company Limited.

Tony holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics, Master of Science degree in Applied Geophysics and Doctor of Philosophy in Geology of the University of Nigeria. He is recognized among the foremost experts in the energy industry in Nigeria and internationally serving, at various times, as Chief Geophysicist of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Value and Portfolio Manager of Shell Companies in Nigeria and Business Development Manager for Africa at Shell International Gas Limited based in London, the United Kingdom prior to joining the Administration of Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004 when he was appointed Adviser to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, and later in 2005 as Director of Petroleum Resources, a position he held until August 2009. He is noted to have initiated the reform on the energy sector with a decisive move towards Production Sharing Contracts in the Oil and Sector and a revision of the fiscal arrangement in Nigerian Deep Offshore leases.