Yemisi Izuora
Oil major, Shell has highlighted the need to sustain safe operations across its businesses in Nigeria.
The annual Shell Leadership and Contractor CEO Conference where the company threw the challenge to contractors aims to shine a light on “a shared commitment to people, performance and safety.
The theme of this year’s event is “Learn. Adapt. Improve.”
Addressing the session, Executive Vice President and Country Chair Nigeria, Elohor Aiboni said: “Shell is delivering an extensive portfolio of projects and operations that will help meet Nigeria’s growing energy needs, create value for our stakeholders, and support national development. We are advancing major opportunities, executing complex work, and pursuing ambitious goals. But no matter how significant the opportunity, no matter how important the project, our success will always be measured first by how safely we deliver it. That is why this conference matters.”
Shell’s meeting is coming at the auspicious moment as the Federal Government recently unveiled fresh plans to unlock Nigeria’s more than 215 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of proven natural gas reserves for industrial development, as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said the country could raise crude oil production to three million barrels per day.
The developments were disclosed at the fifth edition of the PENGASSAN Energy and Labour Summit, PEALS 2026, in Abuja, where government officials, regulators, industry operators and labour leaders outlined measures to reposition the oil and gas sector for sustainable growth
The Shell conference featured among other things, discussions and cascade of learnings, an exhibition and awards and recognitions for outstanding safety performances. The highlight of the event was the signing of the Leadership Charter which was jointly created in 2025 through collaboration between SNEPCo and her contractor partners.
“This year’s conference theme, Learn. Adapt. Improve, connects strongly with the purpose of the Charter,” SNEPCo Managing Director Ronald Adams said before the signing. “To learn, we must be honest about what has worked, what has been difficult, and what our people and operations are telling us. To adapt, we must be willing to adjust our approach where the realities of work require us to do better. To improve, we must make sure that the commitments in the Charter are not only discussed during conferences, but embedded into how we lead, how we engage, how we review performance, and how we support safe execution every day.”
Elohor reiterated the place of safety in company operations, adding: “Every person who works for Shell or on behalf of Shell deserves to return home safely to their family, every day, without exception.”