PROFILE: Wunti, Corporate Strategist, ‘Operation White’ Initiator Is New NAPIMS Boss

Bala Wunti, the outgoing Managing Director of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company,  is stepping into one of the most important roles in the Nigerian oil industry following his  appointment  to the position of the Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services, a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s subsidiary that oversees the corporation’s joint upstream  investments with the major oil producing companies in Nigeria.

The position is always meant for those who are deeply knowledgeable about the oil business and whose experience traverses the whole gamut of the industry.   

With experience spanning close to 30 years, Wunti, the initiator of ‘Operation White,’ a system put in place to promote transparency and accountability in the distribution of petroleum products across the country, is indeed an accomplished oil and gas technocrat.

Wunti, a thoroughbred oil and gas industry professional, is a graduate of Chemistry from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, with  an MBA in Marketing from the Tafawa  Balewa University in Bauchi and a Postgraduate  Diploma in Management from the same school.

Wunti joined the NNPC in 1994 as a Production Programming Officer at the Eleme Petrochemichal Complex, Eleme.   Between 1998 and 2004, he was the Assistant Chief Market Research Officer, Marketing Department, Commercial Division, Eleme Petrochemical Limited, Port Harcourt. From 2004 to 2010, he was Head of Market Research, Brass LNG Limited, Lagos.  Furthermore, between 2013 and 2015, Wunti became the Senior Special Advisor, Technical, to the Group Managing Director, NNPC.  Also, from 2015 to 2016, he was the General Manager, NNPC Efficiency unit.

Between 2016 and 2017, he was General Manager/Technical Advisor Downstream to the GMD, NNPC and from 2017 to 2019, he became the Group General Manager, NNPC Corporate Planning and Strategy.

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 In 2019, he was appointed the Managing Director, Petroleum Products Marketing Company. As the PPMC MD, he ensured that petrol scarcity was eliminated by promoting transparency in fuel distribution.

A diligent and proactive oil and gas industry manager, Wunti possesses extensive experience in complex commercial contract negotiations, strategy development, contract management and business/economic modelling, having held technical, commercial, managerial and executive positions  in different business units in the corporation.

Wunti holds  membership  of key oil industry associations including the Nigerian Gas Association, National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, Polymer Institute of Nigeria and Chemical Society Of Nigeria.

He has a proven track record in energy diplomacy, international coordination and relationship management as the Nigeria National Representative in the Gas Exporting Countries’ Forum.