Profile

Kelechi Isaac Ojukwu, PhD
CEO, Ikonic Energy / PetroSmart Group

Dr. Kelechi Ojukwu is a licensed Petroleum Engineer with operator and service company profiles, including private and public sectors experience. A Schlumberger Wireline & Testing veteran of 1990, he had rewarding international career spanning over 20years across 14 different countries in Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America before returning to Nigeria in 2011. He rose to Principal Reservoir Engineer for West & South Africa before leaving Schlumberger in 2001.

Kelechi was hired by Shell International E&P USA as Global Technology Deployment Coordinator in 2001 and relocated to Shell NL HQ in 2002 and joined PDO Oman's Change Management team in 2004 and later appointed as PDO Lead on New Technology, while double hatting as Senior Production Technologist for 2 North Oman Assets. In 2008, he was redeployed to North Pierce Field, Shell UK as Project Manager. In 2010, he left Shell UK to Afren in London as first Asset Manager who pioneered the start-up of operations of Afren's indigenous subsidiary - First Hydrocarbon Nigeria (FHN) as first COO and led the takeover of OML26 from SPDC. He resigned from FHN after successfully handing over operations to NPDC in 2013. Since then, Kelechi has consulted as Project Manager for Program Management Office of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) between 2016-2017 reporting to GMD on NNPC restructuring into 7 Autonomous Business Units. Then a brief stint as Project Executive with Oando before becoming COO & Country Manager of Hallwood Oil & Gas Inc. Distinguished for pioneering leadership in Technology, Produced Water Management, Abandonment Management and Asset Valuation, he has served on the boards of several E&P companies including Hallwood, Alliance Oil Producing, ARC Oil &Gas and Ikonic Energy.

Kelechi holds a PhD in Petroleum Economics from Emerald Energy Institute - University of Port Harcourt and MEng in Petroleum Engineering from Heriot Watt University Edinburgh. A member of SPE, NSE, IAEE, NAEE, PEO and PEN founder, he has published dozens of papers covering technical, commercial and policy related matters. He holds many technology patents in and outside the oil sector and enjoys mentoring, writing, traveling, jogging and playing golf.