The six key figures in the development of the Qatargas II facility: Faisal al-Suwaidi, Ching Thye Khoo, Muhammad Ghannam, Ahmed al-Khulaifi, Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohammed al-Thani and Alex Dodds.
Faisal al-Suwaidi
Position: Chief executive officer (CEO) and chairman, Qatargas. Vice-chairman, Qatargas II
Biography: Faisal al-Suwaidi has been CEO of Qatargas since 1997. He is also vice-chairman of Qatargas I, II, 3 and 4, as well as the Laffan refinery project. Al-Suwaidi joined Qatar Petroleum (QP) as a trainee clerk in October 1972. After initial training in Dukhan, he was sponsored by QP to study in the UK, obtaining his diploma in business management in 1978. Between 1978 and 1989, he held various positions with QP’s administration arm. In 1992, he was appointed managing director of Qatar Fertiliser Company (Qafco) before joining Qatargas. Al-Suwaidi also sits on the boards of QP, Qafco, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company (RasGas), Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat) and Qatar University.
Contact Tel: (+974) 473 6000
Ching Thye Khoo
Position: Chief operating officer, Qatargas II
Biography: Ching Thye Khoo, who has been seconded from the US’ ExxonMobil Corporation, is a central figure in the evolution of the Qatargas II project. He was previously responsible for the execution of all aspects of the Qatargas II plant before being promoted to chief operating officer following the departure of James Adams in 2008. Khoo joined ExxonMobil in 1982 and initially worked in the engineering, planning and operations functions for the company’s Malaysian arm. He moved into Exxon’s development arm in 2005, and was seconded to RasGas, assuming responsibility for phase one of the company’s expansion programme. Khoo joined Qatargas in 2007 following the completion of train 5 at RasGas.
Contact Tel: (+974) 473 6000
Muhammad Ghannam
Position: Managing director, Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat)
Biography: As head of Qatar’s shipping arm, Nakilat, Muhammad Ghannam has played a pivotal role in the development of the Qatargas II project. Ghannam qualified as a public accountant in New York in 1975, joining Nakilat in 2004 when the company was created with the mandate to handle the shipping requirements of all new Qatari LNG production. Prior to joining Nakilat, Ghannam was chief operating officer for finance at Qatargas. He also held financial roles at ExxonMobil’s exploration and production headquarters in Dallas, Texas, and its Indonesian subsidiary. Ghannam’s next challenge is to successfully raise an estimated $1bn for the next phase of financing for Nakilat’s growing shipping fleet.
Contact Tel: (+974) 499 8111
Ahmed al-Khulaifi
Position: Chief operating officer, commercial and shipping, Qatargas. Chairman, South Hook Gas Company
Biography: Ahmed al-Khulaifi joined QP in 1990 and his career initially focused on refined product and LNG marketing for RasGas before he joined Qatargas in 2000. From 2001 to 2005, Al-Khulaifi was marketing director for Qatargas, where he negotiated LNG sales and purchase agreements with ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Japan’s Mitsui and the UK/Dutch Shell Group. In addition to his Qatargas duties, Al-Khulaifi is chairman of South Hook Gas Company, which is responsible for purchasing LNG from the Qatargas II operation. His current task is to ensure supplies from trains 4 and 5 of Qatargas II are delivered on schedule.
Contact Tel: (+974) 473 6000
Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohammed al-Thani
Position: Chief operating officer, engineering and ventures, Qatargas
Biography: In his role as chief operating officer for engineering and ventures, Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohammed al-Thani oversees plant engineering, reservoir and production engineering management, and major projects, for all of Qatargas’s operations. Sheikh Ahmed joined Qatargas in the late 1990s as an engineer in the reservoir and production engineering department, before being promoted to head of the department and offshore operations manager. His role involved updating reserve estimates from Qatar’s North field and working on the design of the debottlenecking process. Sheikh Ahmed also contributed to the upstream engineering phase of the Qatargas II, 3 and 4 ventures.
Contact Tel: (+974) 473 6000
Alex Dodds
Position: President and general manager, ExxonMobil Qatar
Biography: Prior to taking up his role as country manager for ExxonMobil in August 2006, Alex Dodds was managing director of RasGas, a joint venture of ExxonMobil and QP. Dodds took the helm at RasGas from Jerry Wolahan, who moved to a management position at Exxon-Mobil’s headquarters in Houston. Before heading RasGas, Dodds was president of ExxonMobil Canada. He has more than 25 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry, the bulk of which was spent at ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil Qatar is one of the largest international investors in the state’s energy industry, holding stakes with QP in most major gas projects in Qatar. The two companies have been working together since the late 1980s.
Contact Tel: (+974) 434 9318
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