Hashem Sayed Hashem
,CEO,Kuwait Oil Company (KOC)
With CEO Hashem Sayed Hashem at the helm of affairs since May 2013, the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) presently is among the top ten global oil and gas companies in terms of revenue. The KOC – a subsidiary of the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation – is also the main revenue earner for Kuwait.
Under Hashem’s leadership, KOC has emerged to be a major exploration, drilling and production company in the region, accounting for most of the country’s 3.5mn barrels per day oil production. Besides producing oil from the Burgan field, the world’s second largest oilfield, KOC made a major discovery of four new oilfields in the country in early 2015, and began production later that year.
KOC has also made strides internationally through its sister company KUFPEC and is now involved in exploring three offshore oil blocks in the South China Sea as part on agreement with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the operator. Hashem has moved up the ranks at KOC since joining in 1987, working at various key capacities, and today manages over 7,500 staff.
Hashem also serves as the chairman and managing director of the Kuwait Oil Tankers Company (KOTC) since July 2013. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Kuwait University in 1987, and is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).
