Six executives working in the sultanate’s chemicals sector: Nicholas Barakat, Ahmed al-Wahaibi, Gilles Desorbay, Musab al-Mahruqi, Awadh Hassan al-Shanfari and Dhananjay Chaudari
Nicholas Barakat
Position: Chief executive officer (CEO), Octal Petrochemicals
Biography: Nicholas Barakat is the CEO of Octal Petrochemicals, the largest integrated producer of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheets in the world and the region’s biggest producer of PET resin. Barakat has more than 20 years’ experience as a senior executive working for US-based International Paper. He is a certified public accountant and a member of the American Association of Chemical Engineers and the Society of Plastic Engineers. Barakat has a degree from the American University of Beirut and holds a master’s degree in business administration from New York University. Octal opened the world’s first integrated PET resin and sheet plant in Salalah, southern Oman, in December 2008. The company invested $350m in the facility, which is capable of producing 300,000 tonnes a year (t/y) of material. Octal Petrochemicals is a subsidiary of Octal Holding and Company.
Contact Tel: (+968) 2 203 0700
Ahmed al-Wahaibi
Position: CEO, Oman Oil Company (OOC)
Biography: Ahmed al-Wahaibi is CEO of state-owned OOC. He joined the company in 1997 and worked in several roles for four years before becoming CEO. Al-Wahaibi sits on the management boards of several subsidiaries, including Oman India Fertiliser Company, Oman Oil Marketing Company, Oman Shipping Company, Sohar Aluminium Company, Compania Logistica De Hidrocarburos in Spain and Gulf Energy Maritime in the UAE. Al-Wahaibi has a master’s degree in development management from the American University and a degree in electrical engineering from Washington University, both in the US. OOC is a partner in Duqm Refinery and Petrochemicals Industries, which it owns with Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic). OOC has several subsidiaries involved in the production of petrochemicals, including Salalah Methanol Company and Takamul Investment Company.
Contact Tel: (+968) 2 457 3100
Gilles Desorbay
Position: General manager, Takamul Investment Company
Biography: Gilles Desorbay is the general manager of Takamul Investment Company, a joint venture that develops and operates industrial facilities in Oman. Desorbay joined Takamul in 2010 after six years as director general of Geneva-based Desorbay Management Services. Prior to this, he worked at the UK/US BP Amoco. Takamul is a joint venture between state-owned OOC, Abu Dhabi-based investment company Al-Maha and Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority. The company has stakes in operational chemicals businesses, including Muscat Gases Company and Sohar Sulphur Fertilisers. It is studying the possibility of several new petrochemicals projects in the sultanate, as well as metals and mineral operations. Desorbay has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago in the US. He graduated from CEP Lyon in France.
Contact Tel: (+968) 2 200 4333
Musab al-Mahruqi
Position: CEO, Oman Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic)
Biography: Musab al-Mahruqi is CEO of Sohar-based Orpic, a state-run vehicle established in 2010 to oversee the sultanate’s refining and petrochemicals operations. The company integrated Oman’s two refineries with its polypropylene and aromatics plants. Before joining Orpic, Al-Mahruqi was chief investment officer at OOC, and had worked in several other roles at the company, including deputy chief financial officer and project finance manager. Prior to OOC, he was a field engineer at US oil field services Schlumberger with assignments in West Africa and the Caspian Sea. He has a degree in chemicals engineering from the University of Nottingham in the UK. Orpic’s major project in the coming years is the expansion of the Sohar refinery, which is expected to be tendered for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) in 2013.
Contact Tel: (+968) 2 685 1000
Awadh Hassan al-Shanfari
Position: CEO, Salalah Methanol Company
Biography: Awadh Hassan al-Shanfari is the CEO of Salalah Methanol Company (SMC), which was formed in 2006 by OOC to build a methanol plant in Salalah Free Zone. Al-Shanfari joined SMC from Aromatics Oman, a chemicals company based in Sohar. Between 2005 and 2009, he worked as corporate developer at Aromatics Oman. Prior to this, Al-Shanfari was executive director at the Oryx group of companies in Muscat. He also worked as a technical deputy general manager at Dhofar Fisheries Industries, where he ran the Raysut Marine Laboratory for the Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries in Salalah. SMC started operations in the first half of 2010. It exports methanol and also uses the chemical in Oman’s downstream industries. SMC’s Salalah facility has the capacity to produce 3,125 tonnes a day of methanol. It includes captive power generation, water desalination units and a wastewater treatment plant.
Contact Tel: (+968) 2 321 8800
Dhananjay Chaudari
Position: General manager, Sohar Sulphur Fertilisers
Biography: Dhananjay Chaudari is the general manager of Sohar Sulphur Fertilisers, which was established in 2011 to produce and sell sulphur bentonite fertilisers. The company is 55 per cent owned by OOC subsidiary Takamul Investment Company. The minority shareholders are Oman’s Awtad Projects & Development and US-based CoreSulphur. Chaudari joined the company as general manager in May 2011 and oversees the company’s fertiliser production and distribution at Oman’s northern port of Sohar. Chaudari has a degree in chemical engineering from Pravara Rural Engineering College in India’s Maharashtra state. The company’s plant in Sohar produces 30,000 t/y of sulphur bentonite fertiliser and other micronutrient fertilisers. The company has an agreement with Orpic for the supply of raw sulphur from its Sohar refinery.
Contact Tel: (+968) 2 200 4300
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