21. Yosuke Ueda, Director, JODCO
Yosuke Ueda joined the company in 1983 and was promoted to the role of director in 2013. He was assigned the Abu Dhabi project vision almost as soon as he joined the company. JODCO’s involvement in Abu Dhabi dates back to 1973 with its participation in Umm Shaif and the Lower Zakum fields. A few years down the line, it started work on Upper Zakum, Umm Al Dalkha and the Satah field. A wholly owned subsidiary of INPEX established in 1973, JODCO’s Abu Dhabi vision finally materialised recently when it won 8% of the ADMA-OPCO offshore concession. The final agreement was sealed last month, marking a shift in the regional oil industry which previously sought partnerships with western IOCs.
22. Patrick Allman-Ward, CEO, Dana Gas
Being currently the region’s first private natural gas company, Dana Gas has moved up in our Power 50 list from last year. Established in 2005, the company today has activities in Egypt, Kurdistan, and the UAE, totalling an average production output of 63,900 boepd in 2015. Inspired by a vision to become the region’s leading private producer, CEO Patrick Allman-Ward, who assumed his current role in 2014, has been at the forefront of driving sustainable growth across the natural gas value chain. Coming with 30 years of industry experience, these aims were not too ambitious for his expertise. His eventful career had begun with Shell in 1982. Some of his previous roles include vice president exploration for Asia-Pacific, CEO and board member of the South Rub Al Khali Company, of which Aramco was a major shareholder, vice president of New Business Development in Saudi Arabia and new ventures execution manager for Europe.
23. Vagit Alekperov, CEO, Lukoil
Vagit Alekperov has been Lukoil’s president and CEO since 1993. Prior to that, he had been working in the oil industry in Azerbaijan and Western Siberia since 1968. Some of his previous roles include general director of the Production Association Kogalymneftegaz of Glavtyumenneftegaz of the USSR ministry of oil and gas from 1987 to 1990, First Deputy Minister of the USSR ministry of oil and gas from 1990 to 1991 and president of the Langepasuraikogalymneft oil concern from 1992 to 1993, giving him extensive knowledge of the region’s oil and gas sector. Thus, Alekperov added a lot of value to Lukoil which has been reflected in the company’s performance and operations over the years. Today, it is considered one of the major international companies, which accounts for more than 2% of the world’s oil production and around 1% of the proven hydrocarbon reserves. In the Middle East, Lukoil was awarded, along with Statoil, the concession to operate Iraq’s West Qurna II in 2009. The field, one of the world’s largest with about 14bn barrels recoverable reserves, is located in the southern part of Iraq, 65km north-west of Basra.
24. Mohamed Al Masry, Chairman, Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS)
EGAS is involved in activities like the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas and the installation of natural gas pipelines. Founded in 2001 to complement the overall strategy of the government, the company has a strategic alliance with Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, which is ranked number 16 in this year’s Power 50 list. Together with other domestic players in the market, the two companies aim to achieve sustainable growth to become major contributors to the Egyptian economy, positioning the country among the leading players in the global market. One of the company’s objectives is to expand natural gas utilisation in the domestic market, meeting local demand and encouraging investment in natural gas activities.
25. Kim Jung Rae, CEO, Korea National Oil Company
KNOC has a wide range of activities at home on Korean land as well as abroad. The company imports and exports crude oil and petroleum products, keeping the country’s energy sector alive. Formerly known as Korea Petroleum Development Corp, KNOC was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Ulsan, South Korea. In the Middle East, KNOC concluded a production sharing contract in Block 70 in Yemen in 2005 through direct negotiations with the Yemeni government. The company also acquired a 15% interest in Hawler of Kurdistan in 2008, while the rest went to Oryx Petroleum and the Kurdistan Regional Government. In the UAE, it has a stake in two onshore blocks and one offshore block. Kim Jung Rae has been the CEO and president of KNOC for just over a year now. He joined the company after having served a number of leadership roles in Hyundai Group where he initially started his career in 1976. When Kim was appointed to his current role, he said that he will work together with the employees to overcome the downturn and make every effort to make the company take off once again.
26. Mustafa Sanalla, Chairman, NOC Libya
NOC Libya was established in November 1970, replacing the Libyan Petroleum Corporation which was founded in 1968. The company is involved in exploration and production within Libya, the import and export of oil and gas, construction and maintenance of pipelines and storage tanks. In addition, affiliated with Libya NOC is a petroleum research centre that carries out research and development studies relevant to the oil industry. In order to overcome the downturn that was coupled with civil unrest within Libya itself, the company’s head Mustafa Sanalla has been seeking foreign investment to support an increase in the country’s oil and gas production. According to Sanalla, investment could help oil production to jump almost 70% by the second half of 2017, reaching more than 1.2mn bpd. “We can get production back towards 1.2mn barrels a day but we need investment to be unlocked,” he recently told the press. It will definitely take him a lot of effort to reverse the state of the oil and gas industry of Libya to its condition prior to the revolution of 2011.
27. Toshiaki Kitamura, CEO, Inpex
A seasoned politician in Tokyo, Toshiaki Kitamura joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in April 1972, one month after he finished a law degree from Tokyo University. Having been Inpex’s CEO since 2010 and executive vice president since 2009, Kitamura played a significant role in the company’s recent achievements. It was under his watch that Inpex established Japan Oil Development Company in 2004, which later went on to acquire a stake in one of Abu Dhabi’s offshore concessions. Some of the Abu Dhabi developments that the company is currently involved in include the redevelopment of the Upper Zakum oilfield involving the use of artificial islands as well as the Phase II development, with the aim to engage in the overall production of Umm Lulu and Nasr oilfields. Inpex itself was founded in 1966 with the aim to promote independent development of oil and gas sources.
28. John Watson, CEO, Chevron
John S. Watson assumed the role of chairman and CEO of Chevron in 2010 but has been with the company since 2005. Specialised in exploration and production, Chevron was the first to discover oil in the Arabian Peninsula. It was initially founded in 1876, but didn’t come to the Middle East until 1928 when it was offered the Bahrain concession. In 1932, it struck a layer of blue shale in Bahrain and signed an agreement with the Saudi government forming the new California Arabian Standard Oil Co, present day Saudi Aramco.
29. Rainer Seele, CEO, OMV
Rainer Steele was appointed the company’s chairman and CEO in 2015. Regarding the appointment, OMV’s supervisory board chairman Rudolf Kemler said that it is a “critical milestone which will ensure stability to OMV’s management structure.” With group sales of $20.35bn and workforce of around 22,500 employees, OMV is considered to be one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In 2016, it produced approximately 315,000 boepd. Its active Middle East operations include the Habban field in Yemen, where the company believes a restart of operations remains possible once the situation stabalises, the Kurdistan-based Pearl Petroleum, of which OMV holds a 10% share, and Iran’s Mehr Block. In Libya, the company resumed operations of the Murzuq basin, the Nafoora Augila field, the Sharara pipeline once blockages were lifted.
30. Majid Jafar, CEO, Crescent Petroleum
A regional upstream company, Crescent Petroleum is based in the United Arab Emirates where it is strategically located between the Middle East and South Asia. Some of its activities include exploration and production of petroleum concessions in the UAE, Oman, Yemen, Egypt and Pakistan. Founded in 1971, the company, which is headquartered in Sharjah with additional offices in the UK and Iraq, is considered to be one of the oldest private oil and gas companies in the region. Serving as the company’s CEO, Majid Jafar boasts numerous other roles including the chairman of Gulftainer Ltd, director of Dana Gas and URUK Group.
