The new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, Dr. Philip Mshelbila, has commenced his single five-year tenure at the company with the promise to complete the train 7 project under construction.
He also promised the company’s shareholders and the Nigerian people that he would ensure that more Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) were taken to further ramp up NLNG’s gas supply capacity and secure its place in the global gas market.
Mshelbila, in a statement by the NLNG’s General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Mrs. Eyono Fatayi-Williams, recently stated this weekend in Port Harcourt, River State, at the farewell and welcome ceremony, where the mantle of leadership of the company was handed over to him by his predecessor, Mr. Tony Attah, whose tenure ended on August 31, 2021.
The ceremony attracted dignitaries from the political and oil and gas spaces, among whom were the Governors of Rivers and Edo States, Mr. Nyesom Wike and Mr. Godwin Obaseki; Executive Secretary the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Simbi Wabote; NLNG Board Chairman, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, amongst others.
In his acceptance speech, Mshelbila stated, “We will complete Train 7 and take more FIDs to secure our place in the global market. We will complete the Bonny-Bodo Road and so many other social projects to fulfill our vision of helping to build a better Nigeria.”
He said he was honoured to lead the company and vowed that the company would remain the leading LNG company in Africa and Nigeria’s most successful business model.
Admitting that the challenge before him and his team in a world marked by uncertainties and transitions was huge, Mshelbila, who had just rounded-up his tenure as the Chief Executive Officer of Atlantic LNG Company of Trinidad & Tobago, stated that he was not daunted.
He added, “It is with a great sense of responsibility that I stand here today, honoured to be the Managing Director of NLNG.
Dr. Philip Mshelbila was the CEO for Atlantic LNG Company of Tinidad & Tobago. Prior to this he was the General Manager, Gas for Shell Nigeria and a director of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC). Before that, he held the positions of Regional Communications Manager for Shell in West Africa and General Manager for Sustainable Development and Community Relations for Shell Nigeria.
Prior to that he was the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Gas Ltd and Crisis Chief of Staff for Shell Nigeria. In the course of his 25 year career with Shell, he has held various roles including Integration/Planning and Project Development Manager for Gas & Power, Commercial Manager, Private Assistant to the Chief Executive of Royal Dutch Shell in The Netherlands, Regional (Business) Adviser for Africa – Shell International and Regional Health Manager for Africa overseeing 36 countries. Prior to joining Shell, he worked with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and National Oil & Chemical Marketing Company Plc (NOLCHEM).
Dr. Mshelbila has a degree in Human Medicine (MBBS), postgraduate qualification in Occupational & Environmental Medicine from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the IESE Business School of the University of Navarra, Spain.
