NIGERIA’S Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, and the Managing Director of Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), Dr. Philip Mshelbila, have been elected as President and Secretary-General of the 2026 Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Ministerial Meeting.
The announcement was made in a statement issued in Abuja by Andy Odeh, Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
While celebrating the achievement, NNPCL congratulated President Bola Tinubu for his support in securing the positions for Nigeria’s representatives.
The company described the development as a historic milestone that reinforces the Federal Government’s gas agenda to position natural gas as a key driver of industrial and economic growth.
Mshelbila, elected at the Forum’s 27th Ministerial Meeting in Doha, Qatar, succeeds Algeria’s Mohamed Hamel as the fifth Secretary-General of the GECF — an organization that plays a central role in advancing global energy sustainability through natural gas.
NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Bashir Ojulari, commended Mshelbila’s leadership at NLNG, noting his success in transforming Nigeria’s vast gas reserves into liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and condensates for both domestic use and export.
“With this feat, Philip Mshelbila has permanently placed Nigeria on the global energy map,” Ojulari said. “It also validates President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s gas-to-prosperity vision, which seeks to leverage natural gas for industrial growth, energy security, and economic transformation.”
Ojulari added that Mshelbila’s leadership at the GECF will further strengthen Africa’s role in global energy transition and advance Nigeria’s strategic interests in gas development.
He also lauded Ekpo’s emergence as GECF President, describing him as a committed advocate for Nigeria’s gas industrialisation drive.
The GECF — an international intergovernmental organization of the world’s leading gas exporters — provides a platform for cooperation among member countries and promotes dialogue between gas producers and consumers to ensure market stability.
Its member states include Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela, with observer members such as Angola, Malaysia, and Mozambique. Collectively, the GECF accounts for 69% of the world’s proven natural gas reserves, 39% of marketed production, and more than half of global LNG exports.