₦airaland Forum

NLNG appoints Leye Falade as CEO

Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) has appointed Leye Falade as its chief executive officer (CEO).

He will take over from Philip Mshelbila on April 26.

Falade is currently the managing director of Brunei LNG Sendirian Berhad, a position he has held since April 2024.

Prior to this, he served as Shell Namibia country chair from September 2023 to April 2024.

He was also general manager, production, at Nigeria LNG Limited between May 2019 and September 2023.

Earlier in his career, Falade worked as regional AMS implementation manager at Shell in The Hague, Netherlands, from May 2018 to April 2019.

He also previously served as operations manager at NLNG from July 2015 to May 2018.

According to the company, the new CEO has worked across upstream and midstream assets in seven countries spanning Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Russia, and Africa.

He is skilled in gas and petroleum operations, product optimisation, engineering, business improvement, and change management.

Falade is an energy professional with an engineering degree and an MBA from Henley Business School, United Kingdom.

Oil and gas duo
The power twins of Nigerian energy: Meet the Falade brothers

Emerging from the same Shell talent pipeline, Gbite and Leye Falade now straddle two heavyweight Nigerian energy companies: NLNG and Aradel.

In the competitive corridors of West Africa’s oil and gas industry, a rare biological and professional phenomenon is unfolding. Gbite and Leye Falade are more than just contemporaries. They are identical twins whose lives have mirrored one another from their first days in Ibadan to the same engineering lecture halls. Today, that symmetry has reached the boardroom, as the 53-year-old brothers are poised to control the two most significant levers of Nigeria’s energy transition.


With Leye named the future head of the gas giant Nigeria LNG (NLNG), and Gbite spearheading the rise of indigenous powerhouse Aradel Holdings, the “power twins” have completed a remarkable parallel ascent.

Emerging from the same Shell talent pipeline, they have moved from shared beginnings to the centre of the nation’s economic strategy: one anchoring Nigeria’s global gas ambitions, the other leading the charge for indigenous oil independence.

They studied electrical and electronic engineering at the University of Ibadan and started their careers in the oil and gas industry at Shell Nigeria in 1996. They have worked across the upstream and midstream sectors in and outside Nigeria.

Leye Falade: incoming CEO of NLNG

A 28-year veteran of the Shell Group, Leye Falade is the quintessential “company man” with a global footprint. His appointment as the incoming chief executive of NLNG, effective April 2026, marks a high-stakes homecoming for a leader who has spent several years mastering the world’s most complex energy frontiers.

The $7bn project [is set to] catapult output from 22mtpa to 30mtpa

He currently serves as the MD/CEO of Brunei LNG, the world’s longest-running liquefaction plant, which is a joint venture between the Brunei government, Shell and Mitsubishi. His move to Brunei followed a strategic tenure as the country chairman for Shell in Namibia, where he sat at the core of one of the decade’s most significant offshore exploration booms.

For Leye, the return to NLNG is a move onto familiar turf. He previously spent over eight years at the company, serving in critical roles including general manager of production as well as operations manager. This deep institutional knowledge will be vital as he inherits NLNG’s most ambitious expansion to date: Train 7.

The $7bn project is designed to catapult Nigeria’s output from 22 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 30mtpa. When it comes online next year, Leye will be responsible for ensuring that this massive increase in capacity translates into the forex and energy security Nigeria so desperately requires.

Gbite Falade: CEO of Aradel Holdings
While his twin navigates the world of global majors, Gbite has emerged as a vanguard for Nigerian independent operators. Since taking the helm of Aradel Holdings, then known as Niger Delta Exploration and Petroleum (NDEP) in February 2021, he has transitioned the company from a quiet pioneer into a diversified energy powerhouse.

The man who left Shell in 2009 is now buying back his former employer’s legacy assets


Under his stewardship, Aradel achieved a landmark listing on the Nigerian Exchange Group in October 2024, signalling a new era of transparency and scale for local firms.

His tenure has been defined by high-value deal-making. He successfully led the acquisition of the Olo and Olo West Marginal Fields from the TotalEnergies-NNPC joint venture, but his magnum opus remains the $2.4bn acquisition of the Shell Petroleum Development Company onshore portfolio.

As a key architect within the Renaissance Energy Africa consortium, he secured a formidable 33.3% stake in the deal, comprised of a 12.5% direct stake for Aradel and 20.8% through its affiliate, ND Western. It is a poetic turn of events: the man who left Shell in 2009 is now buying back his former employer's legacy assets.

His “indigenous-first” strategy is backed by a sophisticated operational pedigree, including senior executive roles at Oilserv Group and Oando, where he served as COO of Oando Energy Resources.

Having spent his early career as a petroleum economist for Shell EP Africa, Gbite combines technical rigour with the financial agility necessary to thrive in a post-international oil company landscape. He also assumed the chairmanship of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group in November.

‘Femi Asu

FreeStuffsNG:
https://www.thecable.ng/nlng-appoints-leye-falade-as-ceo/


https://www.theafricareport.com/402608/the-power-twins-of-nigerian-energy-meet-the-falade-brothers/

emperor4love:
Silent billionaires omo

FreeStuffsNG:
https://www.thecable.ng/nlng-appoints-leye-falade-as-ceo/


https://www.theafricareport.com/402608/the-power-twins-of-nigerian-energy-meet-the-falade-brothers/

FreeStuffsNG:
Today, that symmetry has reached the boardroom, as the 53-year-old brothers are poised to control the two most significant levers of Nigeria’s energy transition.

With Leye named the future head of the gas giant Nigeria LNG (NLNG), and Gbite spearheading the rise of indigenous powerhouse Aradel Holdings, the “power twins” have completed a remarkable parallel ascent.

Silent high achieving billionaire twin brothers who will not show off or drag limelight with anyone. Just doing their own thing and minding their own business. There are so many like them in Yorubaland.

There's no way those who say education is a scam will not suffer in this life and hereafter.

FreeStuffsNG:
Beeni o!

Aariwo kọ ni music. Even rumor has it that Eazi too is not doing bad

FreeStuffsNG:
Today, that symmetry has reached the boardroom, as the 53-year-old brothers are poised to control the two most significant levers of Nigeria’s energy transition.

With Leye named the future head of the gas giant Nigeria LNG (NLNG), and Gbite spearheading the rise of indigenous powerhouse Aradel Holdings, the “power twins” have completed a remarkable parallel ascent.

Silent high achieving billionaire twin brothers who will not show off or drag limelight with anyone. Just doing their own thing and minding their own business. There are so many like them in Yorubaland.

There's no way those who say education is a scam will not suffer in this life and hereafter.

LZAA:
Omo even buhari wasn't this nepostic

FreeStuffsNG:
Today, that symmetry has reached the boardroom, as the 53-year-old brothers are poised to control the two most significant levers of Nigeria’s energy transition.

With Leye named the future head of the gas giant Nigeria LNG (NLNG), and Gbite spearheading the rise of indigenous powerhouse Aradel Holdings, the “power twins” have completed a remarkable parallel ascent.

Silent high achieving billionaire twin brothers who will not show off or drag limelight with anyone. Just doing their own thing and minding their own business. There are so many like them in Yorubaland.

There's no way those who say education is a scam will not suffer in this life and hereafter.

wink2015:
WHY ONLY YORUBA PEOPLE ARE GIVING FEDERAL APPOINTMENTS?

WHAT HAPPEN TO SOUTH SOUTH PEOPLE?

THE BINIS, URHOBO, ISOKOS, IJAW ETC

keemsleek:
He came in later after thecm passing of Late Aret Adams so Aradel is more if Edo linked... south south. I remembered vividly the day that company started at vi...