Philips Obita

Philips is a Petroleum Geoscientist, with over 20 years of experience in the upstream oil & gas industry. His areas of expertise include assessment of petroleum potential of acreages, petroleum resource estimation, field appraisal, development planning and negotiation of upstream petroleum agreements. Prior to being appointed as General Manager – Upstream, Philips served as the Head of Development & Production for UNOC since August 2017 and was responsible for the management of UNOC’s upstream development and production operations to maximise value for the Company.

He previously worked in the Petroleum Exploration & Production Department under the Ministry of Energy & Mineral Development where he started his career as a Geophysicist in 2000, and later served as a Senior Geophysicist. He was Head of Compliance Division leading reviews of oil companies’ work programs and budgets for petroleum operations and ensuring that operations are executed in a prudent and cost-effective manner. He also represented the Ministry in a number of Inter-Ministerial Committees including for the evaluating of petroleum exploration and production license proposals and negotiating upstream petroleum agreements.

Philips holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics from Makerere University, Master of Science in Petroleum Geoscience from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway), Post Graduate Diploma in Management of Petroleum Development and operations (Norway) and several other trainings in the oil and gas sector.