Mr Philips Obita

Mr. Philips Obita is the General Manager - Upstream at the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC). He has over 23 years of experience in petroleum exploration and development operations.

He started his career as a Geophysicist with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development in 2000. He subsequently served as a Senior Geophysicist and later as a Principal Geophysicist at the Ministry where he was extensively involved in the acquisition, processing, and interpretation of geophysical data and promoting the petroleum potential of the country to investors. During his time at the Ministry, he was also responsible for managing the Production Sharing Contracts operated by Tullow Uganda Limited.

Philips later joined the Uganda National Oil Company in 2017 as the Head of Development and Production, managing the Company’s development and production assets in the joint venture. He later served as the Chief Operating Officer – Upstream for the company from 2020-2023. He is currently the Company’s General Manager for the upstream business, where he is responsible for managing and providing leadership on the strategic interests of the Company in the upstream oil and gas business.

He holds a B.Sc Degree in Physics and Mathematics from Makerere University in Kampala (Uganda) and a Master’s of Science Degree in Petroleum Geoscience from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim (Norway). He also holds Post Graduate trainings in Management of Petroleum Development and Operations from PETRAD in Stavanger (Norway), and from the Institute for Petroleum Development Studies, University of Austin, Texas.