Six executives involved in the $3.4bn elastomers project at Jubail: Yousef al-Zamel, Stephen Pryor, Juan Arburua, Thom Orr, Arturo Grimaldi and Lee Hae Wuk
Yousef al-Zamel
Position: Executive vice-president for chemicals, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic)
Biography: Yousef al-Zamel was recruited by Sabic when the company was established in 1976. He has worked in several departments including operations, engineering, petrochemicals and marketing in both Saudi Arabia and the US. Al-Zamel’s former roles include vice-president of marketing and general manager of the Saudi Arabian Fertiliser Marketing Company. He has been instrumental in shaping Sabic’s domestic and international operations and is responsible for all chemicals activities at the firm. The $3.4bn elastomers project being carried out by Sabic is at Jubail. The scheme is a key component of the kingdom’s industrial diversification plans and will supply sectors including car manufacturing. Al-Zamel graduated in 1976 with a degree in chemical engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran.
Contact Tel: (+966) 1 225 8000
Stephen Pryor
Position: President, ExxonMobil Chemical
Biography: Stephen Pryor had been a vice-president at US oil firm ExxonMobil since 2004 and was promoted to his current role in 2008. ExxonMobil Chemical is a 50:50 joint venture partner with Sabic in the Jubail elastomers scheme and will provide the process technology for the plant. Pryor joined ExxonMobil in 1971 as a marketing executive based in New York and has travelled the world working in several positions for the firm. These include general manager positions in Cyprus and New Zealand, as well working in the planning department for US and international downstream operations. His more recent roles include president of ExxonMobil Lubricants and Petroleum Specialties Company, a role he took up in 1999. Pryor has a degree in biology from Lafayette College and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University, both in the US. He is a director of the American Chemistry Council.
Contact Tel: (+420) 239 016 274
Juan Arburua
Position: Vice-chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), Tecnicas Reunidas
Biography: Juan Arburua joined Spanish engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor Tecnicas Reunidas in 1998 after a career in banking. Tecnicas Reunidas was awarded two EPC packages in late June on Sabic’s elastomers project. These were the ethylene propylene diene monomer package and the polybutadiene rubber plant. Arburua joined the company board in 1999 and has served as a director of several Tecnicas Reunidas subsidiaries and affiliates, including Eurocontrol and Initec Infrastructure. Prior to joining Tecnicas Reunidas, he was treasurer and director of capital markets for the US’ Citibank from 1988 to 1997. Arburua has a degree in economics from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Austin, both in the US. He has also served as chairman of the Foundation Council of Spain and China.
Contact Tel: (+349) 1 592 0300
Thom Orr
Position: Vice-president of business development, Jacobs Engineering
Biography: Thom Orr has worked in the engineering and construction industry for more than 30 years and joined the US’ Jacobs Engineering in 2009. The firm carried out the front-end engineering and design for the Jubail elastomers project and is extremely active in Saudi Arabia. Jacobs recently signed the general engineering services-plus contract with Saudi Aramco, which means it will be able to bid on further engineering work for the oil giant. Prior to joining Jacobs, Orr worked for several other US companies, including J Ray McDermott, Brown & Root, Fluor and Chicago Bridge & Iron. He has worked on projects in countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Qatar, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Orr has been involved in business development for more than 15 years. He has also previously been employed as a project controls professional.
Contact Tel: (+966) 3 898 9900
Arturo Grimaldi
Position: Senior vice-president, Technip Middle East
Biography: Arturo Grimaldi joined France’s Technip in the mid-1980s and has worked for the company in the Middle East since 2009. Technip was awarded the EPC package for the halobutyl rubber plant on the Jubail elastomers project. The award was made after various options were considered including awarding the package to Jacobs Engineering on an engineering, procurement and construction management basis. Grimaldi first worked in Technip’s process department before joining the project execution department as engineering manager and then project manager. He worked on two refinery megaprojects in Iran and Egypt before taking on the Horizon Oil Sands scheme in Canada. In 2007, Grimaldi was appointed chief operating officer of Technip’s Italian operations, a position he held until taking up his current role. He has a degree in chemical engineering from Rome University.
Contact Tel: (+971) 2 611 6000
Lee Hae Wuk
Position: Vice-chairman and co-CEO, Daelim Industrial Company
Biography: Lee Hae Wuk is one of three co-CEOs at South Korea’s Daelim Industrial and has worked at the firm his entire career. His previous roles include managing director and vice-president. Lee has steered Daelim through some of its best years in the Middle East process plant market and the company now has more than $11bn-worth of projects under execution in the region. Most of this work is concentrated on the petrochemicals and refining sectors, which are among Daelim’s core strengths. Daelim was the major winner at Sabic’s elastomers project, picking up three EPC packages. These included the carbon black plant and the utilities and offsites. Daelim is the largest EPC contractor in the region’s hydrocarbons sector, winning $4.87bn-worth of contracts in the 12 months to June. Lee has a degree in applied statistics from Columbia University in the US.
Contact Tel: (+82) 22 011 7114
You might also like...
Global AI market to top $1tn in 2030
25 April 2024
Morocco tenders Noor Midelt 2
25 April 2024
Saudi Arabia's Roshn launches Aldanah Dhahran project
25 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.
