Bala Wunti Appointed Pioneer CEO of World Energy Council Nigeria

Bala Wunti has been appointed the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the World Energy Council (WEC) Nigeria.

The appointment, approved by the Board of WEC Nigeria, marks the establishment of a dedicated executive leadership structure for the organisation in the country.

Nigeria has been a member of the World Energy Council since 1960.

Wunti brings more than three decades of experience across Nigeria’s upstream, midstream and downstream petroleum sectors, including several senior positions at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd).

He previously served as Chief Upstream Investment Officer of NNPC Upstream Investment Services, where he was involved in managing joint venture and Production Sharing Contract portfolios, as well as negotiations with international and indigenous energy companies.

Wunti also participated in the renegotiation of Nigeria’s Deep Offshore Production Sharing Contracts, which addressed longstanding commercial issues between the Federal Government and oil contractors.

During his career in the petroleum industry, he led cost-optimisation initiatives that helped reduce production costs to below $10 per barrel in some operations.

He earlier headed the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), where he was associated with Operation White, an initiative aimed at improving transparency, monitoring and accountability in the distribution of petroleum products.

Wunti later served as Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer at NNPC, contributing to corporate strategy, investment planning and sustainability initiatives during the company’s transition into a commercially focused national energy company.

He has also participated in commercial negotiations involving gas projects, including liquefied natural gas initiatives and gas sales agreements, while advocating greater domestic utilisation of Nigeria’s natural gas resources.

On energy security, Wunti was involved in initiatives targeting crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, including the development of a Command and Control Centre for monitoring critical oil and gas infrastructure.

He also represented Nigeria on the OPEC Economic Commission Board and participated in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, contributing to discussions on energy markets, security and gas development.

Speaking on his appointment, Wunti said Nigeria’s energy future must be anchored on energy security, affordability, sustainability and national development.

He said WEC Nigeria would provide an impartial platform for government, industry, investors, academia and society to collaborate on practical energy solutions.

Under his leadership, WEC Nigeria is expected to strengthen energy-sector dialogue, produce research and analysis on Nigeria’s priorities and connect stakeholders in the country with the council’s global network.

Wunti is an alumnus of executive programmes at Harvard Business School and the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford.