ANDREW WADA OBAJE

Born in December 1952, Mr. Andrew W. Obaje obtained the B.Sc. Degree (Geology) of Ahmadu Bello University in 1976. In 1983 he was awarded the Certificate in Development Geology from Oil and Gas Consultants International in 1983, amongst other qualifications and certificates. He joined the Nigerian civil service in 1977 and subsequently transferred to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in 1980 as a Senior Geologist. He rose through the ranks to become a Chief Geologist in July 1991, a position he held till January 1995 when he became an Assistant Director in charge of Basinal Assessment and Lease Administration in the Director’s office. He became a Deputy Director in 2005 and in 2009 was appointed Head of Director’s Office with concurrent oversight over Basinal Assessment Unit, a position he held till his appointment as Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

Obaje has garnered over 30 years experience in the oil and gas industry with many accomplishments amongst which are the initiation of Niger-Delta wide velocity distribution studies in the late 1980’s, the initiation and management of multi-client seismic surveys in the Niger-Delta Offshore/Deep Offshore in the early1990’s, which resulted in the invigoration of exploration activities in the Niger-Delta Deep Offshore. This initiative resulted in the discoveries of world class fields like Bonga, Erha, Agbami, Bosi, etc. He successfully conducted licensing rounds for the award of oil blocks to investors.

He also effectively contributed to the various international Boundary Negotiations between Nigeria and other African countries like Equatorial-Guinea, Ghana, Republic of Benin and Cameroun.