A time of year where looking back is often commonplace, Energy Digital takes the opportunity to reflect on some of the companies - and the leaders within them - making a difference across the energy sector.
In the run up to the festive period, we also run through the top 10 energy leaders in the UK and Europe as well as the Americas.
In this edition of the series, we showcase 10 executives making influential contributions to the energy sector at some of the industry’s leading names headquartered across APAC and MEA.
10. Othman Al-Ghamdi
Role: President and CEO
Company: Petro Rabigh
Country: Saudi Arabia
With more than 30 years of experience in the refining and petrochemicals sector, Petro Rabigh’s Al-Ghamdi kicks off our Top 10. He was appointed President and CEO, as well as Executive Member of the Board of Directors, in January 2021. He has a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration, both from King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals in Dhahran, which is among the most prestigious academic institutions in Saudi Arabia.
9. Ray Espinosa
Role: President and CEO
Company: Manila Electric Company (MERALCO)
Country: The Philippines
Tackling change in the energy sector as an opportunity to drive the nation toward a more sustainable future, Espinosa is a key figure in tackling the Philippines’ energy crisis, which is seeing electricity demand grow at an exponential rate and, in turn, supply often falling short of demand. Espinosa is taking on this challenge by shifting MERALCO’s focus onto renewables. As well as being President and CEO, Espinosa is Member of the Board of Directors at PLDT, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company, Roxas Holdings, Smart Communications, Maybank Philippines, Mediaquest Holdings, Philstar Daily, Business World Publishing, Cignal TV and First Pacific Company.
8. Arvind Shastry
Role: Chief General Manager of Energy Transition
Company: Hindustan Petroleum
Country: India
Hindustan Petroleum is one of the main oil and gas companies transforming the energy landscape across India and beyond. Armed with a mantra ‘delivering happiness’, the company is growing through sustainable growth. Shastry, as head of energy transition, leads Hindustan Petroleum's shift from fossil-based systems of energy production and consumption — including oil, natural gas and coal — to renewable energy sources. Shastry is a mechanical engineer by trade, graduating with an Engineer’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi.
7. Krishnakumar Gopalan
Role: Chairman and Managing Director
Company: Bharat Petroleum
Country: India
With a career at Bharat Petroleum starting in 1987, Gopalan’s more than three decades of experience in the oil and gas industry has seen him rise through the ranks of the company, with other recent roles including Executive Director of a number of departments, including Lubricants and HRD. Armed with a string of diverse leadership experiences across business and functional domains of Bharat Petroleum, since taking the top job in March 2023 he has been in charge of launching new brands and redefining its workforce to execute groundbreaking initiatives in the sector. Graduating as an Electrical and Electronics Engineer from National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli (formerly Regional Engineering College) and has a Masters in Financial Management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai.
6. Syed Moonis Abdullah Alvi
Role: CEO
Company: K-Electric
Country: Pakistan
Moonis was appointed CEO of K-Electric in 2018 and brings more than 30 years of experience in finance to the role. He is a leader with a focus on operational efficiency and financial planning which has accelerated KE’s transformation over recent years. He has worked with the power utility since 2008 and served as its CFO and Company Secretary for more than a decade. Alongside his role as CEO, Moonis is a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan.
5. Jeremy Weir
Role: Executive Chairman and CEO
Company: Trafigura
Country: Singapore
Weir became Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Trafigura in April 2018. Before taking on this role, his career spanning nearly three decades saw him working in commodity and commodity derivative markets. He joined Trafigura in 2001 as Head of Metals Derivatives, Structured Products and Risk Management and has spent the last two decades working his way up through the company. Prior to assuming the role of CEO, he served as a Management Board Director, Head of Risk and CEO of Galena Asset Management and Trafigura Mining Group.
4. Sue Brown
Role: Executive Group Director, Sustainability
Company: Worley
Country: Australia (American-Australian)
Having worked at Worley for more than a decade, Brown assumed her current role in 2021. Throughout her 12-year career with the company, she has held a variety of leadership roles, including Principal Environmental Consultant and Director Corporate Affairs. In her current position, Brown works at the interface of the industries on which society relies for energy and resources, and the consequent environmental and social impacts. She is also accountable for driving the sustainability vision and strategy for Worley, advising the Board and wider management on emerging sustainability and climate issues. She is also a front-facing sustainability and ESG advocate on Worley’s behalf, working with customers, governments, investors, NGOs and academics.
3. Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber
Role: MD and Group CEO
Company: Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC)
Country: UAE
As well as heading up ADNOC, Al Jaber has more than 10 years of experience working within the UAE’s Federal Government, with him currently serving as its Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology. He is also COP28 President, UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, and Chairman of Masdar, also known as the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company. He plays a pivotal role in the comprehensive development of the UAE's commitment to addressing global environmental challenges and achieving sustainable development across key industrial sectors. As well as being a leader of UAE's green economy initiative, in his role as MD and CEO of ADNOC he has initiated a programme of increased efficiencies, strengthening the company’s overall performance and fostering a more commercial mindset. In driving ADNOC’s 2030 strategy toward a more profitable upstream Al Jaber has also led a digital transformation at the company, prioritising the adoption of breakthrough technologies including AI, big data and blockchain.
2. Tengku Muhammad Taufik
Role: President and Group CEO
Company: PETRONAS
Country: Malaysia
With areas of expertise including developing and steering key business strategies, organisational transformation and financial and risk management, Taufik has led PETRONAS since 2020. He has vast experience in strategic planning, finance and business strategy development with a focus on the oil and gas and energy industry. He returned to PETRONAS in 2018 after initially working for the company between 2010 and 2012, with the interim period spent at PwC Malaysia and as CFO of SapuraKencana Petroleum Berhad.
In addition to his responsibilities in PETRONAS, Taufik is the Chairman of the Gentari Board of Directors, Chairman of the National Trust Fund, Exco Member of the World Business Council for Sustainability Development (WBCSD), Chairman of the East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC) Audit Committee, and Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) Audit Committee. He is also a Council Member of the ECERDC and NCIA, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Merdeka Award Trust.
1. Amin H Nasser
Role: CEO
Company: Aramco
Country: UAE
At Aramco, the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals enterprise and largest provider of crude oil to global markets, Nasser is CEO and a Member of the Board of Directors. His four-decade career has seen him serve in a number of senior leadership positions, including SVP of Upstream. He is also a key leader of education and training across the industry, which benefits the advancement of the company’s innovation and technology strategy and the wider energy sector. In his tenure as CEO,
Nasser is leading Aramco’s efforts to produce cleaner energy and products through investments in promising technologies such as next-generation fuel-engine interfaces, crude oil-to-chemicals processes and renewable energy applications to minimise gas emissions. The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) awarded Nasser its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, as well as the SPE's Charles F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal awarded for distinguished achievement in mining administration. In 2020,he received The Chemists’ Club Kavaler Award by ICIS, and was named as Energy Intelligence’s Energy Executive of the Year.
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