Barely Five Months as the Country Chair of Shell Namibia, a UK major Shell has appointed Leye Falade as Managing Director/CEO, of Brunei LNG, My Engineers Reports.
Brunei LNG is an Asian operation, employing about 500 people and pumping close to seven million tonnes of liquefied gas annually into ocean-going tankers.
In this new role on Shell’s global organogram, Falade will report to Peter Costello, Executive Vice President Conventional Oil & Gas.
Brunei LNG is 50% owned by the Government of Brunei, 25% owned by Shell and 25% owned by Mitsubishi. It operates a total plant capacity of 7.2Million Tonne per annum (7.2MMTPA) of LNG on a 130-hectare complex situated at Lumut in the Belait District in Brunei.
In his short tenure as Country Chair, Falade was lauded for his contributions to the Namibia venture, demonstrating “great capacity to build relationships in country and with his charismatic and empathetic leadership style, maintaining excellent stakeholder relationships with everyone from government officials to key service providers through pivotal Venture junctures”.
He was also praised for his “steadfast. HSSE focus which will leave a lasting impact with the in-country team and Venture”.
Falade moved, in October 2023, from the position of General Manager Production at the Nigeria LNG Ltd, to Country Chairman, Shell Namibia.
Before his departure, Falade participated in a panel discussion, where he emphasised the importance of the petroleum industry and the Namibian government working closely together to realise the potential of the Orange Basin.
The panel session, titled ‘Planning for Success in Namibia’, included Falade, petroleum commissioner Maggy Shino, Chevron’s country manager for Namibia Channa Kurukulasuriya and Business Development at PGS Peter Wijnen.
The discussion focused on what can be learned from the past to ensure discoveries are equitable and provide socio-economic benefits to Namibia and the region.
Panellists acknowledged the recent hydrocarbon discoveries in the Orange Basin have resulted in exciting investment opportunities, which could lead to considerable oil revenue.
The panellists also noted the potential they see in Namibia, pointing to investments being made and highlighting the importance of implementing sound policies to build and support local content.
Panellists all agreed that Namibia presents a vast opportunity, and unlocking its resources will require a collaborative effort and a focus on ensuring the benefit it brings to the country.
“The results so far are encouraging, and we remain hopeful. Our focus is on fully understanding what oil and gas is under the seabed, and how it might end up being produced,” said Falade.
Shell’s license area in the Orange Basin covers some 12 000sq km and water depths of up to 3000m. With an office in Namibia for almost ten years, Shell and its joint venture partners discovered hydrocarbons in the Orange Basin in early 2022, and they have been working at pace on an exploration and appraisal programme for the PEL0039 license.
“We couldn’t do it without the collaboration of the government of Namibia and our many contractors and suppliers.
“I visited Walvis Bay, our logistics base, for our offshore operations recently and saw for myself the vast scale of what it takes to deliver our drilling campaign,” Falade stated.
He further stressed that Shell and its partners recognise the importance of the offshore discovery as a win-win, adding that a thriving oil and gas industry must bring in-country value.
“Maximising in-country value is very important to us, and we prioritise local goods, services and skills, and hold our contractors responsible to do the same,” said Falade.
Adeleye Falade is a graduate of Electrical/Electronic Engineering from University of Ibadan (Nigeria) and holds an MBA from Henley Business School, University of Reading, UK. He has worked for over 27 years with the Shell Group and is regarded, in the company an accomplished business leader, with brood and significant global exposure in the Integrated Gas & Upstream businesses in assignments that span various countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.