Fabian Michael Lai is President and CEO of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL). He brings more than fifteen years of experience in upstream oil and gas operations, audit, accounting and financial management across the public and private sectors. A Certified Internal Auditor, he specialises in petroleum fiscal modelling for frontier markets, negotiating production sharing contracts, oil and gas accounting, valuation, and risk and uncertainty assessment.

His public-sector career began in 2007 as a Government Auditor with the General Auditing Commission, where he rose to Engagement Manager, and in 2010 he joined NOCAL as Internal Audit Manager. His private-sector roles include positions with Catholic Relief Services and as Audit Manager at International Bank Liberia Limited. He has also served as Chief Financial Officer of the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority and, most recently, as CFO of TipMe, Liberia's leading fintech company. At NOCAL, he directs the company's strategic and operational agenda to reposition it as a value-driven national oil company.

He holds a BSc in Accounting and Economics (summa cum laude) from the African Methodist Episcopal University, an MBA from Cuttington University, and an MSc in Petroleum Accounting with Distinction from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.