Honorable Fabian M. Lai brings over 15 years of experience in Upstream Oil and Gas operations, Audit, Accounting, and Financial Management experience, working in finance, internal and external audits, government auditing, and public financial management. He is a certified internal auditor highly skilled in petroleum financial modeling for competitive fiscal terms for frontier countries and negotiating product sharing contracts. His expertise extends to risk and uncertainty assessment, Valuation, and Oil and Gas Accounting. Fabian earned a bachelor’s in accounting and economics (summa cum laude) from the African Methodist Episcopal University and his MBA from Cuttington University. His career in the public sector started as a government auditor for the General Auditing Commission (GAC) in 2007 after few years as a private sector auditor and quickly moved up the ranks to become an Engagement Manager. He joined the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) in 2010 as Internal Audit Manager. He holds an MSc with distinction in Petroleum Accounting from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, United Kingdom. After finishing his Masters, he transitioned into the private sector, working for the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and then for one of Liberia’s largest retail banks, the International Bank Liberia Limited, where he held the position of Audit Manager responsible for the bank seven plus branches across all 15 counties in Liberia. He then moved to the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA) for four years, serving as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and to TipMe, Liberia’s fastest growing fintech company, as Chief Financial Officer. Currently, he serves as Acting CEO at the National Oil Company of Liberia, where he manages the company’s operations. In this role, he lends his experience from LPRA regulating upstream oil and gas operations and, during his time at NOCAL, managing upstream commercial operations to work alongside his colleagues to create value at NOCAL.

Under their leadership, NOCAL has achieved significant milestones including: 15+ years in Upstream Oil and Gas operations, Certified Internal Auditor, Expert in petroleum financial modeling, Experienced in fiscal terms negotiation, Specialized in risk assessment and valuation.