Oritsegbubemi Omatseyin Lagos — Leading indigenous oil and gas exploration company, Lekoil Nigeria Limited, has celebrated Dr. Kehinde Oluwatoyin Ladipo, a fellow of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, NAPE, on receiving the prestigious Aret Adams Award.
The Aret Adams Award, named after the former managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (now NNPC Limited), the late Chief Aretanekhai (Aret) Godwin Adams and his commitment to excellence, is the highest honour of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, NAPE. It is awarded to deserving earth scientists of any nationality for distinguished and outstanding contributions to, or achievements in the sciences and practice of petroleum exploration and exploitation in Nigeria for a continuous period of 15 years or more.
The event held at Centre Point, located in Ikoyi, Lagos State, brought together Dr. Ladipo ‘s Family, friends, associates and well-wishers.
Dr. Kehinde Oluwatoyin Ladipo is a prominent Nigerian geologist who spent over fifteen years working at Shell Nigeria.
He is a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science, a fellow of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, an independent consultant who serves as a senior consultant at Lekoil and a senior Advisor to the Geoscience Department of Lekoil, doing asset valuation and more.
Dr. Ladipo expressed gratitude for the award, he said the award is very important to him as it is the highest award by the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists.
Reflecting on his journey as a geologist, Dr. Ladipo stated: “I joined the geoscience community without knowing what to expect but along the process, I met renowned Professors whose intellectual capacity inspired me. When the opportunity to work with Shell came, I joined the company and a trial of 6 months ended up becoming a journey of 22 years which was very rewarding.”
Discussing Nigeria’s potential in the oil and gas sector, Dr. Ladipo highlighted that the country has over 110 fields, each with reserves of more than 5 million barrels.
He emphasised that with targeted exploration, these reserves could yield significant results, even if divided into smaller 300-barrel fields.
He encouraged young geologists to actively support the federal government in exploring and developing these resources to maximize the nation’s energy potential.
He added: “Now we should be looking at development and what innovation AI can add to the nation’s energy potential. The future is bright.”
Friends, family and well wishers present at the event described Dr. Ladipo as a very good friend, a hardworking and dedicated man, a role model and an inspiration to aspiring geologists.
According to Bolaji Ogundare, Management Executive at Newcross Group and Pan Ocean Oil Corporation, receiving the highest award in NAPE couldn’t be awarded to a more deserving individual.
