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Belemaoil, the upstream company founded by Nigerian businessman Tein T.S. Jack-Rich, is struggling to lift production even as another arm of the family’s business empire, Elin Group, led by his wife Elizabeth Jack-Rich, gains traction in aviation.
Belemaoil, which bought into Oil Mining Lease 55 in 2014, averaged only about 210 barrels a day in June 2025, far below the block’s potential and earlier forecasts. Despite years of spending and recent moves to ease crude evacuation using a floating storage unit, the company’s performance has yet to improve.
At the same time, Elin Group is emerging as a star player in Nigeria’s private aviation space, marking a contrast that underscores shifting momentum within the Jack-Rich household.
Belemaoil output trails past benchmarks
Industry analysts point out that Belemaoil’s current output is a fraction of the 7,000–7,500 barrels a day the block once delivered under Chevron’s operatorship. Despite efforts to boost logistics and field work, challenges tied to barge evacuations and export routes to Bonny Terminal have kept volumes low.
Earlier this year, reports surfaced that Jack-Rich had quietly explored the possibility of selling the company’s stake in OML 55. No deal has materialized, but the conversations underscored the pressure Belemaoil faces to turn around production or unlock value for shareholders.
Elin Group gains altitude in aviation
While the oil unit lags, Elin Group — founded and run by Elizabeth Jack-Rich — has been scaling up. The company, with interests across real estate, energy, logistics and maritime, has made aviation its flagship in recent years.
In August, Elin Air completed a full 7,800-landings inspection on a Challenger 604 jet — reportedly the first time such a complex maintenance milestone had been reached entirely within Nigeria. Aviation industry insiders hailed it as a breakthrough for local technical capacity and a boost for the country’s nascent maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) sector.
Elizabeth Jack-Rich has become the public face of this growth push, promoting Elin’s aviation services as a platform for building local expertise and capturing regional charter and business travel demand.
Family business pivots as energy unit lags
For investors and analysts, the picture is clear: one arm of the Jack-Rich empire is underperforming in a capital-intensive sector, while another is thriving in a high-margin, service-driven business.
Belemaoil’s challenges remain fixable — they hinge on improved field operations, more efficient crude evacuation and better alignment with regulators. But progress has been slow, and each month of weak production raises questions about whether the company can recover its lost ground in Nigeria’s competitive upstream market.
Elin Group’s aviation gains, by contrast, have come quickly, buoyed by dollar-denominated customers, strong demand for charter services and the reputational lift from its technical achievements.
Neither Belemaoil nor Elin Group responded to requests for comment on their strategies. People familiar with the companies say Elin plans to expand its charter fleet and MRO capabilities, while Belemaoil continues to weigh options for turning around OML 55.
For now, the contrast is striking: the oil producer that once symbolized Jack-Rich’s rise in the Niger Delta is sputtering, while the aviation unit his wife leads is charting a growth course that is reshaping the family’s business narrative.
