31. Dr Abdul Jaleel Al Khalifa
CEO, Dragon Oil
Dr Abdul Jaleel Al Khalifa has certainly earned his stripes at Dragon Oil, having been appointed to its Board in 2008, having garnered management and technical experience gained during his time at Saudi Aramco. He proved to be a steady hand in 2015, when ENOC acquired Dragon Oil for $2.4bn, ending the battle to purchase the remaining 46% it did not already own. The purchase of Dragon Oil means that ENOC currently has assets capable of producing 100,000 barrels of oil per day. Since then, it has flexed its financial muscle, invested $5bn in the development of the Cheleken offshore fields in Turkmenistan. It is also working with Kuwait Energy on the Exploration Block 9 located in Basra, Iraq.
32. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum
Chairman, Dubai Petroleum
It was a landmark year for Dubai Petroleum, as it announced that it has identified significant volumes of gas in its T-02 well deep gas exploration well. The high pressure and high temperature T-02 well was drilled to 5,562m into the Pre Khuff formation and is the deepest well in Dubai to date. While drilling in the Pre Khuff, formation gas flowed into the T-02 well bore on a number of occasions.
Chairman Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, a passionate advocate of Emirtisation, says: “It is vital that we bring on-board Emiratis who want to make change happen. We are looking to find individuals who can grasp the challenge of creating and executing exciting plans.”
33. Yosuke Ueda
Director & General Manager, JODCO
Yosuke Ueda, Director & General Manager, JODCO Japan Oil Development Co., Ltd. (JODCO), a subsidiary of Japan’s Inpex Corporation.
It has operated in Abu Dhabi for over 40 years, participating in the development and production of the oil fields offshore Abu Dhabi operated by ADMA-OPCO and ZADCO.
In addition, we acquired interest it was awarded an ADCO Onshore Concession last year.
“We are also committed to contribute the growth of Abu Dhabi, and will seek to play a role in further strengthening the relationship between Abu Dhabi and Japan,” a spokesperson told Oil & Gas Middle East.”
34. Jón Ferrier
CEO, Gulf Keystone Petroleum
Jon Ferrier has been the CEO of Gulf Keystone Petroleum since June 2015, and has amassed over 35 years’ worth of experience in the oil and gas, and mining industries.
Since joining the company, Ferrier has focussed on achieving safe operations, working hand-in-hand with Iraq’s Ministry of Natural Resources, and continuing to maintain stable production of 40,000 barrels of oil per day Gulf Keystone Petroleum’s Shaikan filed, located in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq.
He is also overseeing plans to increase the capacity of the filed to 100,000 barrels as part of the wider Shikhan Field Development Plan. In October 2014, the company announced that Shaikhan’s proven and probable reserves had increased from 299mn barrels to 639 barrels.
35. Abdalla Saaed Al Suwaidi
CEO, National Drilling Company
National Drilling Company in the UAE has signed $543mn contracts to buy 14 new rigs in 2015, despite the challenging conditions in the industry. The man in the hot seat, Abdalla Saaed Al Suwaidi, said the new contracts are part of the company’s expansion plans and the result of growing demand. One of the contracts was signed with National Oilwell Varco for the construction of one onshore rig, while another was awarded to Lamprell to build an offshore one. The two rigs have a combined value of $203mn and will be built in the UAE.
36. Ayman Asfari
CEO, Petrofac
Ayman Asfari in 1991 established Petrofac International, of which he became the Group CEO in 2002. Under his leadership, Petrofac has emerged as a prominent EPC contractor in the region. Petrofac was recently awarded an EPC contract by Saudi Aramco for its Fadhili gas greenfield development. The asset, which will have a capacity of around 2,500mn standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD), will process sour gas from the Khursaniyah oil field and the Hasbah non-associated gas field. Petrofac is also going strong in Oman, where it appointed a new country manager less than a year back, and is currently working on a $900mn contract for PDO to provide EPC services for its Yibal Khuff project, 350km southwest of Muscat. In Kuwait, Petrofac last year bagged a $780mn contract from the Kuwait Oil Company.
37. Marwan Moufarrej
President – Middle East, Schlumberger
Marwan Moufarrej was pivotal to Schlumberger – the world’s largest oilfield services company (also ranked 1st in an Oil & Gas Middle East listing of global services companies) – launching a major office in Dubai, to cater to the rising demand for its products and services. It also became the first freezone company to be established under the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTC Authority). Schlumberger in March this year also officially opened a new facility to support the oilfield asset reliability and efficiency in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The Schlumberger Middle East Center for Reliability and Efficiency (CRE is the largest facility in the Schlumberger network at 178,000 sqm. It is aligned with Saudi’s IKTVA programme and will employ more than 450 Saudi nationals. Meanwhile, analysts at Susquehanna have rated Schlumberger as ‘positive’ and lowered its price target from $88 to $86. Analysts Charles Minervino and Kai Wang have commented, “We are lowering our 2016-17 EPS estimates for Schlumberger as drilling activity and commentary by E&Ps on North America and international spending continue to come in at levels that are even weaker than previously expected. We revised our 2016 EPS estimate to $1.47 from $2.06 and our 2017 EPS estimate to $1.95 from $2.65.” Analysts noted that while the oil industry may continue to decline, Schlumberger is the one of the oil companies best positioned to weather the drilling down-cycle. This is due to its exposure in the Middle East where spending hold ups better and the company developing strong customer relationships. At the global level, in probably its biggest corporate gain, Schlumberger acquired its American rival Cameron last year, for a reported $14.8bn. The merger received unconditional approval from the US Department of Justice and the European Commission.
38. Roberto Penno
Group President – AMEA and Southern Europe, Amec Foster Wheeler
Roberto Penno has held the position of group president of Asia, Middle East, Africa and Southern Europe since January 2015, following the combination of Amec and Foster Wheeler. Under Penno’s leadership, the business has continued to grow in a challenging commodity market, particularly in the Middle East, where the company has recently been awarded a number of significant contracts and established its engineering hub in the UAE. Non-hydrocarbon market growth has also been a key differentiator for the company and is an ongoing priority. Amec Foster Wheeler recently won a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract from Sonatrach for three new refineries in Algeria. The Biskra site will also include lubrication oil facilities. Amec Foster Wheeler will also support Sonatrach in the selection of technology licensors for all three refineries. The company has also been awarded of a contract in March by the Pakistan Refinery Limited for a detailed feasibility study to upgrade its refinery in Karachi.
39. Mohammed Al-Mutairi
CEO, KNPC
Under the leadership of Mohammad Al-Mutairi, Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) posted a revenue of over $44bn in 2014, an increase of $2.3bn from the year before. A chemical engineer from Kuwait University, Mutairi joined KNPC in 1987 and has gathered about 27 years of experience in downstream and refining, technologies and management.
He has acquired vast experience in senior roles, having worked as deputy managing director of Kuwait’s Mina Abdullah and Mina Al-Ahmadi refineries, and as manager of Operations at the Shuaiba Refinery – Kuwait’s the oldest refining plant to date, and also as Manager Operations at Mina Al-Ahmadi the largest Refinery in Kuwait with 466 KBPD Capacity.
As CEO of KNPC, Kuwait’s national oil refining company, Mutairi’s responsibilities are huge and encompass the country’s entire downstream industry from refining to gas processing and Local marketing.
Speaking to Oil & Gas Middle East’s sister publication, Refining & Petrochemicals Middle East in February, Mutairi confirmed the news of a new downstream complex in Kuwait.
The complex will be built next to and integrated with the massive Al Zour refinery in the southeast of the country.
The area will also house a 3bn cubic feet per day import terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be used mainly for power generation. The project is in tendering phase and is expected to be completed in 2020.
“Because of location and integration and for best practice, the idea is to have one entity in Al Zour. Financially and economically, it makes sense to have our petrochemical operations integrated with a refinery,” he adds. Meanwhile, KNPC will continue to operate its two refineries — Mina Abdullah and Mina Al Ahmadi, including work on a massive expansion project better known as the Clean Fuels Project.
“The Clean Fuel Project is aimed at upgrading and expanding KNPC’s existing refineries into an integrated merchant refining complex with total capacity of 800,000 bpd meeting the future diversified market requirements,” Mutairi explained.
Kuwait’s refining capacity is currently one of the largest in the GCC, and with Mutairi in charge, it seems to be in the right hands to grow further.
40. Rod MacGregor
CEO, GlassPoint
American solar power firm GlassPoint last year achieved the rare distinction of introducing a breakthrough solar EOR project named Miraah in Oman for Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), and Rod MacGregor was instrumental to it. Once complete, Miraah will save an estimated 5.6tn British Thermal Units (BTUs) of natural gas each year.
Last but not the least:
Oil & Gas Middle East Power 50 2016: 41-50
