Philip Mshelbila is taking over as the managing director of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG). The trained medical doctor is rounding up his tenure as CEO of Atlantic LNG, the largest company in the Caribbean.
Mshelbila, formerly of Shell, is a global business leader with over 20 years of oil & gas experience in board-level governance, stakeholder management, commercial operations, project management and performance delivery in both operated and non-operated joint ventures.
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He has also held a number of senior regional leadership positions in overseeing 36 countries.
As incoming CEO of NLNG, Mshelbila’s ability to sustain dividend payment to the firm’s shareholders especially the Federal Government through its shareholding in Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is expected to be among some of his biggest challenges in years ahead.
Nigeria is targeting N208 billion in dividends from NLNG in 2021 –it received N144 billion in 2020, 79 percent more than the N80.3 billion it expected and despite the economic challenges the coronavirus pandemic caused.
The prospect of higher dividends is a huge relief for Nigeria as $365.1 million in dividends from its 49 percent stake in the NLNG saw it through its first recession in 2016. The economy entered another recession in 2020, the second in four years, and could do with all the revenue it can to jump-start an economy slowed down by COVID-19.
During his tenure as CEO of Atlantic LNG, Mshelbila supervised the development of world-class LNG facilities with a focus on “continuous improvement, digital strategy and cultural transformation”.
Mshelbila oversaw the Trinidadian plant during “turbulent times”, which it said included gas supply challenges and COVID-19.
Prior to his appointment as CEO of Atlantic LNG, he was the regional communications manager for Shell in West Africa and general manager for Sustainable Development and Community Relations for Shell Nigeria, a role that entailed managing sustainable development and social investment as well as relations with communities, local and state governments in the Niger Delta.
In the course of his over 20-year career with Shell, he has held various roles including managing director of Shell Nigeria Gas Ltd., Integration/Planning and Project Development Manager for Gas & Power, commercial manager OK LNG Pipeline Project, Private Assistant to the chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, Regional (Business) Adviser for Africa – Shell International and Regional Health Manager for Africa.
Prior to joining Shell in 1994, he worked with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and National Oil & Chemical Marketing Company Plc.
Mshelbila has a degree in Human Medicine (MBBS) from Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria. He also has a postgraduate qualification in Occupational & Environmental Medicine from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.
He also has a master’s of Business Administration (MBA) from the IESE Business School of the University of Navarra, Spain.
