…To assume duty Sep 1
By Adewale Sanyaolu
The Board of Directors of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), has announced Mr. Tony Attah as its new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, effective September 1, 2016.
Attah, a former Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), is to replace Mr. Babs Omotowa, who will be returning to Shell International in the Hague, Netherlands, after nearly five years at the helm of affairs.
A statement from the General Manager, External Relations, Mr. Kudo Eresia-Eke, said Omotowa leaves NLNG in a stronger position and well positioned for the next chapter of the company’s growth.
‘‘He will take great pride and satisfaction in his numerous achievements including consolidating the company’s position as a reliable supplier of LNG and major player in the global LNG market, restarting the Train 7 expansion programme and with NLNG becoming ranked as the number one home-grown company in Nigeria.
Through sheer courage, integrity and transparency, he brought back credibility into the relationship with government at a very crucial time in the company’s history, and his principled stand on payment of taxes yielded the now famous “government bailout funds”.
During his tenure at Nigeria LNG Limited, the company earned in excess of $40 billion in revenue and returned over $22 billion to Nigeria in dividend, taxes, feed gas purchases, among others. The company under his watch became the highest corporate tax paying organisation in sub-Saharan Africa, and a major contributor to the Nigerian economy, NLNG said.
The statement added that NLNG under the leadership of Omotowa secured $1.6 billion financing for the construction and delivery of six very modern Dual Fuel Diesel Electric (DFDE) vessels, setting a new ground breaking standard for Nigerian Content; with the training of 600 Nigerians in ship construction and repairs, ensuring Nigerian companies, for the first time, export $10 million worth of goods and services to Korea for the ship building, and facilitating a dry dock project by a Nigerian consortium.
The statement explained that Attah will be taking over from Omotowa after returning from an assignment at Shell’s Group Integrated Gas business as Senior Projects Advisor, working on projects in The Netherlands and Singapore.
He comes to NLNG with a 28-year experience in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. A trained mechanical engineer and an MBA holder, Attah started his career in Sokoto Cement Company as a Maintenance and Operations Shift Supervisor.
He joined Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in 1991, working in various technical and management roles in Field Maintenance, Production Operations, Core Engineering and Major Projects Commissioning, Rotating Equipment Engineering, among others. He was also once Head of Joint Venture Economics in Commercial.
Between 2005 and 2007, 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.
He oversaw the operation-readiness of other petroleum and natural-gas production projects in sub-Saharan Africa and the start-up of a liquefied natural gas extraction system north of the Russian Pacific Island of Sakhalin as the Regional Manager, Operations Readiness and Assurance – Account Manager for EPG Africa Projects and Russia Sakhalin OR&A.
In 2009, he was appointed General Manager, Western Location and Sustainable Development – External Focus; and in 2010, he became the Vice President, Health Safety, Environment, Sustainable Development and Corporate Affairs including Communications, Crisis and Reputation Management.
In 2013, he was appointed the Vice President, HR, Shell sub-Saharan Africa, maintaining the business competitive edge through talent development, resourcing and providing support to the business.
In 2014, Attah assumed the position of Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), in addition to his role as VP, HR. He was responsible for SNEPCo’s offshore business integration and leadership, and managing a network of external and internal stakeholders.
He is a champion for social performance and sustainable development and has an impressive record of building relationships with various levels of governments in the Niger Delta, as well as with more than a thousand local communities.
At NLNG, Attach will be responsible for sustaining NLNG’s top quartile performance in supplying LNG to the global energy market and advancing the company’s expansion programmes.