Fabian Michael Lai brings over 15 years of progressive experience in upstream oil and gas operations, audit, accounting, and financial management. His career spans the public and private sectors, with a deep specialization in finance, internal and external auditing, government auditing, and public financial management. He is a Certified Internal Auditor and highly skilled in petroleum fiscal modeling, particularly for competitive fiscal regimes in frontier markets. Fabian has extensive expertise in negotiating production sharing contracts (PSCs), oil and gas accounting, valuation, risk and uncertainty assessments, and financial modeling within the petroleum sector. Fabian holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Economics (Summa Cum Laude) from the African Methodist Episcopal University and an MBA from Cottington University. He also earned an MSc in Petroleum Accounting with Distinction from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom. He began his public sector career in 2007 as a Government Auditor at the General Auditing Commission (GAC), where he advanced to the role of Engagement Manager. In 2010, he joined NOCAL as Internal Audit Manager, contributing to the financial and operational oversight of the company. After completing his graduate studies in the UK, Fabian transitioned to the private sector, working with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and later serving as Audit Manager at International Bank Liberia Limited, where he oversaw audits across more than seven branches in all 15 counties of Liberia. He later served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA), where he contributed to the regulatory oversight of upstream oil and gas activities. Most recently, he held the position of CFO at TipMe, Liberia’s fastest-growing fintech company, where he supported the expansion of digital financial services. Fabian currently serves as Acting President/CEO of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL). In this role, he oversees the strategic and operational direction of the company, leveraging his regulatory and commercial experience to help reposition NOCAL as a value-driven national oil company.