Speakers

Sekou Soro is a seasoned petroleum engineer with more than 20 years of extensive experience in the oil and gas industry. He holds an Engineering degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Ecole Supérieure des Mines et de Géologie at the Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INP-HB) of Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, as well as an Executive MBA in Business Intelligence and Information Technology from the Canadian University of Abidjan. Throughout his career, he has developed strong expertise in petroleum engineering, reservoir management, production optimization &  operations, project execution, and strategic asset management.

He currently serves as Director of Transition CI-26 at PETROCI, Côte d’Ivoire’s National Oil Company, where he leads the strategic transition of offshore operations and assets associated with the CI-26 block. In this capacity, he oversees operational readiness, asset integrity, transition governance, technical coordination, stakeholder engagement, and the implementation of operational continuity frameworks to ensure a successful transfer of operatorship and sustainable long-term operations for PETROCI.

Prior to this appointment, Sekou served as Director of Drilling and Production at PETROCI, a position he held from October 2021. Over the years, he has occupied several key leadership roles within the company, including Project Manager, Head of Reservoir Management, and Production Management positions. He has actively contributed to major upstream projects in Côte d’Ivoire, including the CI-11 Lion Field workover campaign, the Foxtrot, Espoir, and Baobab fields, as well as major offshore discoveries such as Baleine and Calao. He has also participated in numerous production-sharing agreement negotiations and strategic technical discussions with international partners and stakeholders.

In addition to his operational responsibilities, Sekou serves on the boards and technical committees of several PETROCI subsidiary entities, contributing to corporate governance, strategic oversight, and business development initiatives within the energy sector. He used to be also an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Côte d’Ivoire section and is recognized for his technical leadership, multidisciplinary management capabilities, and strategic contribution to the development of Côte d’Ivoire’s upstream oil and gas industry.