The Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, last night in Lagos, emerged the leading oil and gas company, crowning its first outing at the just-concluded Society of Petroleum Engineers’ (SPE) 2025 Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE) by winning a majority of the conference’s corporate and individual awards, including the coveted Best Indigenous Exhibitor and the conference’s Overall Best Exhibitor awards, and the 2025 Industry Young Executive Award to Renaissance Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Mr. Abdulrahman Mijinyawa.

At the SPE Awards Night that rounded off three days of conference and exhibition of the nation’s premier petroleum engineering society, Renaissance’s CTO, Mr. Mijinyawa, received the 2025 Industry Young Executive Award from SPE International President, Mr. Olivier Houze. He also received the Overall Best Exhibitor Award from a founding member of the SPE Section in Nigeria, Mr. Egbert Imomoh. That award was presented to Renaissance “for an outstanding display of creativity and technical excellence at the 2025 NAICE SPE Exhibition.”

Abdulrahman then dedicated the awards to staff and management of Renaissance. He said, “This is an important reward for the resilience shown by the company’s staff who are working with renewed commitment to excellence and have seen Renaissance as an opportunity for Nigerians to drive the industrialisation that will ultimately translate into job creation and overall economic growth.”

“Within this short period of our existence, of about 140 days of taking over Shell’s shares in the defunct SPDC”, Abdulrahman continued, “Renaissance assets and people have increased oil production by about 40 per cent and returned us to a position where we are now fulfilling our contractual gas supply quantities to the NLNG – for the first time in over 5 years. Hence, winning these awards, given by fellow professionals of the industry, encourages our commitment to the government’s aspiration to grow the nation’s utilisation of our vast hydrocarbon reserves.”

Renaissance staff, with 18 entries, also formed the core number of SPE members who presented technical papers at the conference, showcasing Nigerians’ technical prowess and highlighting opportunities in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

Also, the Port Harcourt Section 103, which includes Renaissance staff members, won the Young Professionals of the year award.

Earlier, the SPE Council Chairman, Mrs. Amina Danmadami, said: “The Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE) is an annual conference organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigeria Council and has been held annually since its inception in 1976.”

She said NAICE focuses on connecting a global community of engineers, scientists, and related energy professionals to exchange knowledge, innovate, and advance their technical and professional competence regarding the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas and related energy resources to achieve a safe, secure, and sustainable energy future.

“NAICE provides an Exploration and Production marketplace for sub-Saharan Africa, and, over the years, the conference has grown to become the largest upstream oil and gas event in Africa attracting industry regulators, high-level government officials, petroleum technology professionals and other key oil and gas industry stakeholders.

• PHOTO: Staff of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, led by its Chief Technical Officer, Mr. Abdulrahman Mijinyawa, receiving an award for Best Indigenous Company Exhibitor at the just concluded 2025 Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE) held in Lagos . . . yesterday.