Six key individuals who helped to deliver the world’s largest gas-to-liquids project: Abdullah Hussain Salatt, Andrew Brown, Keith Walters, Rob Kretzers, Neils Fabricius and Mohammed al-Marri
Abdullah Hussain Salatt
Position: Chairman, Pearl GTL management team
Biography: Abdullah Hussain Salatt graduated with a bachelor’s of science in geology from Lamar State University in the US. He began his career as a geologist for Qatar Department of Petroleum Affairs in Qatar’s Finance and Petroleum Ministry. Salatt became director of the department in 1989 and was appointed undersecretary at the Communications and Transportation Ministry. In 1996, he was appointed senior adviser to Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, Qatar’s deputy prime minister and minister for energy and industry. Al-Attiyah resigned his position as minister for energy and industry in January 2011, but continues to be deputy prime minister. Salatt is also chairman of Qatar Fertiliser Company and director of Industries Qatar and Qatar Petroleum.
Andrew Brown
Position: Executive vice president, Qatar Shell and managing director, Pearl GTL
Biography: Andrew Brown joined Shell in 1984 after completing his degree in engineering science from Cambridge University in the UK. In 1985, he was posted to New Zealand, where he worked as a project engineer. In 1996, Brown joined Petroleum Development Oman as planning manager and asset manager for the central Oman oil fields. During this time, he was involved in the establishment of Shell Hydrogen. In 2000, Brown was appointed to work with the vice chairman of Shell as senior adviser for the Middle East and Russia, before becoming private assistant to the chairman of Shell in 2001. In 2002, he joined Shell Gas and Power as project director for the Pearl GTL project.
Keith Walters
Position: Project director, Pearl GTL
Biography: Keith Walters has worked with Shell for almost 32 years, eight of which have been spent working on the Pearl GTL project. He joined Shell in 1980, after about five years of working with the US’ CB&I and JRM. Walters has a degree in chemical engineering and has spent much of his career as a process engineer, leading project engineering in upstream projects, particularly front-end project development. He has also worked as a project health and safety manager. Walters has worked in the UK, Netherlands, and Qatar. He joined the Pearl GTL project as project services and lump-sum contract manager. Walters is now the project director for Pearl Phase 2, the second train at the complex, having taken over from Rob Kretzers, who left the project in 2011.
Rob Kretzers
Position: Executive vice president for projects, Shell Global Solutions
Biography: Rob Kretzers worked on the Pearl GTL project for seven years. He joined the project in 2004 as project director. Kretzers was responsible for the delivery of the project and reported to Andrew Brown, managing director of Pearl GTL. In 2009, he was promoted and became vice president of Pearl GTL. Previously, Kretzers has worked as a project executive for gas projects at Shell, focusing on liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, including the Sakhalin LNG project in Russia. He graduated from the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven in the Netherlands in 1982. Kretzers took up his current role in August 2011, leaving the Pearl GTL project after the successful start-up of the first train. He is now based in the Netherlands.
Neils Fabricius
Position: Senior technical advisor, Qatar Shell
Biography: Niels Fabricius was the technical manager for Pearl GTL until 2006. He is now senior technical adviser to Qatar Shell. Fabricius worked on the Pearl GTL project during its design phases. He graduated with a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen in 1968 and joined Shell Manufacturing in The Hague as process engineer for distillation in 1970. During Fabricius’ long career at Shell, he worked in the UK and Thailand. From 1998 to 2001, he was executive vice president of the Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Company in Saudi Arabia before becoming vice president for gas to liquids projects for Shell Gas & Power. Fabricius became technical manager for Pearl GTL in 2002.
Mohammed al-Marri
Position: Manager of oil and gas surface development, Qatar Petroleum
Biography: Mohammed al-Marri is manager of oil and gas surface development at Doha’s Qatar Petroleum. As such, he is responsible for the general management of all surface development activities, both onshore and offshore. This includes maintaining the gas balance of Qatar and providing business support for prospective gas projects. Al-Marri has spent his entire career at Qatar Petroleum. He is a member of the Pearl GTL management committee, which regularly meets to discuss the progress of the project. Other Qatar Petroleum members of the committee include Ali Hassan al-Sidiky, director of downstream ventures, Khalid al-Hitmi, manager of the North Field’s gas development and Ibrahim al-Mulla, manager of privatised companies affairs.
You might also like...
TotalEnergies to acquire remaining 50% SapuraOMV stake
26 April 2024
Hyundai E&C breaks ground on Jafurah gas project
26 April 2024
Abu Dhabi signs air taxi deals
26 April 2024
Spanish developer to invest in Saudi housing
26 April 2024
A MEED Subscription...
Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.
