H.E. Dr. Philip Mshelbila is Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), the Doha-based intergovernmental organisation whose members include many of the world’s largest gas exporters, among them African producers such as Algeria, Egypt, Libya and Nigeria. He took office on 1 January 2026 as the Forum’s fifth Secretary General, following his election at the 27th GECF Ministerial Meeting in Doha in October 2025, and brings more than 30 years of experience across gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and power.

A Nigerian national, Mshelbila trained in medicine, earning an MB,BS from Ahmadu Bello University, and holds a postgraduate qualification in occupational and environmental medicine from the University of Aberdeen and an Executive MBA from IESE Business School, University of Navarra. He spent more than two decades with Shell, where his roles spanned healthcare, domestic gas operations, regional communications and sustainable development, including General Manager, Gas for Shell Nigeria and director of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria.

Mshelbila later served as Chief Executive Officer of Atlantic LNG in Trinidad and Tobago and, from 2021 to 2025, as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria LNG (NLNG). During his tenure, NLNG signed long-term gas supply agreements with six third-party suppliers in August 2025, committing an estimated 1,290 million standard cubic feet per day of feed gas to the company. He has also contributed to gas policy and economic initiatives including Nigeria’s Decade of Gas Initiative and the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, and served on the board of the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago.

At the GECF, Mshelbila presents natural gas as a reliable, flexible and essential source of energy that supports energy security, rising electricity demand and lower-carbon energy systems. He has called for coordinated international action on methane emissions built on incentives rather than penalties, and has highlighted Africa’s gas potential, noting that more than 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity and that gas can support industrialisation and electrification across the continent.