Nigeria LNG Names New CEO

Nigeria LNG announced July 14 it had appointed Tony Attah to succeed Babs Omotowa as CEO.

Since January 2016 Attah has been Senior Integrated Gas Projects Advisor at Shell, working on projects in The Netherlands and Singapore. Prior to that since 2014, he had been managing director and board chairman of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), the Anglo-Dutch major’s oil and gas operator in the country, in addition to being Shell’s vice-president for human resources across Sub-Saharan Africa since 2013.

In 2005-07 Attah managed the Soku Gas Plant as asset superintendent and operations manager of the initial NLNG gas supply, as well as NLNG Train 3 construction works.

Omotowa will return to Shell International in the Netherlands, after five years at the helm of NLNG which said that -- under his watch -- it became the highest corporate tax paying entity in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Babs Omotowa (Photo credit: NLNG)

NLNG is 49%-owned by state Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), 25.6% by Shell, 15% by Total and 10.4% by Eni. It has six LNG trains with a combined production capacity of 22mn metric tons/yr, plus 5mn mt/yr capacity of LPG/condensate, and two main subsidiaries: shipowner Bonny Gas Transport and ship operator NLNG Ship Management.

Meanwhile, a gas distribution pipeline belonging to NNPC subsidiary Nigerian Gas Company was attacked and blown up by militants on the evening of July 12. Local reports on July 14 indicated the attackers had pretended to be NNPC employees, and that the attack took place in the Ogijo area in the southwestern state of Ogun previously not targeted by militants. Officials said there were no casualties and that the pipe was repaired by July 13.

Mark Smedley