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Kuwait has announced that Wadha Ahmed Al Khateeb, CEO of Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), will serve as the acting CEO of Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (Kipic) in a move expected to accelerate the merger of the two companies.

Last year, the US-based business magazine Forbes named Al Khateeb the sixth most powerful businesswoman in the Middle East.

Al Khateeb became CEO of KNPC in November 2022, overseeing 6,270 employees.

She has almost 30 years of experience in the oil sector and was deputy CEO at the Mina Abdullah Refinery before becoming CEO of KNPC.

Al Khateeb has replaced Waleed Al Bader, who led the company since 2021.

While Al Bader was CEO, Kipic brought the Al Zour refinery online in late 2022. The Gulf Arab state became a major exporter of refined products, especially very low sulphur fuel oil used in shipping.

Al Bader had previously served as chief executive of KNPC, which he left in 2022 when Al Khateeb replaced him.

Al Khateeb is not the only newly announced appointee at Kipic who already has a leadership position at KNPC.

Bandar Al Qahtani, the deputy CEO of administration and commercial at KNPC, has been named the acting deputy CEO of administration and commercial at Kipic.

Additionally, Khaled Ali Essa Al Khayyat, the deputy CEO of planning and finance at KNPC, has been named the acting deputy CEO of planning and finance at Kipic.