By Danlami Nasir Isah
Engineer Yusuf Usman graduated from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1987, with a Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) degree in Chemical Engineering.
He has over 30 years experience in the oil and gas industry. He started his career as Facilities/Project Engineer with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Warri, from 1987 to 1993. In 1993, he joined the Services of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as Facilities Engineer. Between 1993 to October 2007, he rose to become the Technical Assistant to GGM NAPIMS.
During the period, Usman superintended over many projects, including the EKPE Gas Compression Station for EXXON Mobil JV in Houston, France & Nigeria, AMENAM/KPONO Oil and Gas Development for Total JV in Dubai, France & Nigeria, FEED of Brass and Olokola LNG Gas Supply Projects for CNL JV in Houston, USA, Gbaran/Ubie Central Gas Processing Facilities for SPDC/NNPC Joint Venture in UK and Nigeria, Dry Dock of MV Oloibiri for Texaco Overseas/NNPC JV in Greece, Usan FPSO Project for Total/NNPC Joint Venture in France, South Korea and Nigeria etc.
In January 2007, he was redeployed to Nigerian Gas Company as a Superintendent ETSD, responsible for the Upgrade of Afam Metering Station Project. He was later redeployed to Exploration and Production (E&P) Directorate, Abuja as the Technical Assistant to GED E & P in October 2007, with core responsibility of reviewing all submission from NGC. LNG & Power, NCD, IDSL, NAPIMS, NPDC and IVO. He also managed ring fenced Domestic Gas Supply budget implementation, and reported challenges to GED. He also prepared technical papers for the GED.
Between the year 2010 to 2011, Usman was redeployed to Gas & Power Directorate, Abuja as Deputy Manager, Calabar to Ajaokuta Pipeline (CAP) Project and concurrently as Deputy Project Manager, Lot A of the 48’’x130km Obiafu-obrikom-Oben (OB3) Critical Gas Pipeline Project.
Consequent upon his exceptional performance and unparalleled leadership skills, Usman was seconded to the Office of the Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources, between 2011 and 2015 as Deputy Manager/Technical Assistant to Minister of Petroleum Resources (Gas Matters), with key responsibilities of advising the Minister on gas related matters – policies and operations.
In January 2015, he was promoted and redeployed back to Gas Infrastructure Division, Gas & Power Directorate as Project Manager, OB3 Gas Pipeline Project. In June 2016, he was promoted to the position of General Manager (Cover) Planning and Business Development, Exploration and Development of the Exploration and Production Directorate.
Again, in August 2016, Usman was redeployed to the Office of GMD NNPC as General Manager Upstream, Gas and Power responsible for management and review of upstream oil and gas development. He was promoted to the position of Group General Manager/Senior Technical Assistant to GMD in August 2017, a position he held until his recent appointment as COO Gas & Power.
His notable achievements include his supervision and design of the Fuel Gas System of both the Amenam/Kpono production facilities and the FSO. The simulation studies executed led to the selection of Joules Thomson design concept which saved the project substantial amount of money as against the Refrigeration and Thermo expanders design initially considered for the project.
Engineer Usman convinced NNPC Management to adopt the concept of Design Competition on the Amenam Project that allows three different contractors to compete for basic engineering adopting their individual float over installation design, with maximum compensation of $300,000 to each of the three competitors. It was the first time such method was deployed in Nigeria which led to substantial savings on heavy lifts installation cost. He was also instrumental to the success recorded in the NNPC-led negotiations team that negotiated the various Engineering, Procurement Construction, Installation and commissioning (EPCI) contracts for Amenam Kpono phase 1 project. The team achieved a savings of $20 million for the Joint Venture.
He has presented several technical papers and attended trainings, seminars/workshops in Nigeria and abroad. He is a recipient of GMD’s Merit award in 2004/5 and 2009. He is a COREN registered engineer and a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE).