The new Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Mr Osagie Okunbor has assumed office after succeeding outgoing Mutiu Sunmonu, who retired after 36 years with the oil company.

“I’m delighted at the opportunity to build on the progress we have made over the years. Shell continues to be a highly valued partner for progress in Nigeria and I’m looking forward to exploring more channels for fruitful collaboration with our stakeholders,” Okunbor said during the handover ceremony.

Shell believes Okunbor, with over 28 years of experience in the oil sector, is the right man to continue the company’s navigation through its recent PR challenges, following the Bodo oil spill scandal, and also its march out of on-shore concerns.

In January, Shell finally reached an agreement with the Bodo community in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, to pay $83.4 million in compensation for two oil spills that occurred in 2008. Shell has been engulfed in oil spill settlements in the past, but this was the highest ever paid in Nigeria’s history. The tussle between both parties – Shell and the Bodo community – not only forced out some millions of dollars from Shell, it also soiled its reputation internationally, having had a number of social agencies criticize its efforts over the years.

Okunbor, who was the senior Advisor in Shell’s Upstream International operated business, based in The Hague, Netherlands, will be expected to return the company to the glory days, where it was ranked Nigeria’s biggest oil firms and one of Africa’s leading operators.

Shell has also been on a selling spree lately. The British-Dutch oil company had in 2014 sold assets valued at more than $5 billion, stating then that it was keen on building a more effective Nigerian unit and encouraging local producers by selling some of its untapped oil blocks.

Outgoing managing Director, Mr Mutiu Sunmonu, is however moving over to the construction industry, after been  named a Director in German-based construction firm, Julius Berger. “I am indeed proud to have made this remarkable journey with you and tremendously grateful to God for the privilege to have done so,” Sunmonu said.

Osagie becomes the third Nigerian to head the office of the Managing Director of Shell, after Basil Omiyi and the outgoing Mutiu Sunmonu.