Saudi Arabia Wasit gas project

13 December 2011

Six executives working on the kingdom’s $6bn Wasit gas development project: Khalid al-Faleh, Casey Choi, Pietro Franco Tali, Hong-Pyo Kong, Thom Orr and Pierre Duhaime

Khalid al-Faleh

Position: Chief executive officer (CEO) and president, Saudi Aramco

Biography: Khalid al-Faleh replaced Abdullah Jum’ah as head of the world’s largest oil company in 2009 and immediately began to stamp his identity on the firm. Under Faleh’s stewardship, Aramco has broadened its portfolio with several upstream and downstream projects. These include the $6bn Wasit gas scheme, which involves developing two offshore non-associated fields to meet the rapidly rising domestic demand for gas. Faleh began his career at Aramco in 1979 and has experience in a range of roles. He was vice-president of exploration an has headed several key business lines, including exploration and production, refining, marketing and international operations. Since 2000, he has been heavily involved in gas development and served as vice-chairman of Aramco’s study team for gas ventures, as well as vice-president of gas ventures development and co-ordination.

Contact Tel: (+966) 3 872 0115

Casey Choi

Position: President, SK Engineering & Construction (SK E&C)

Biography: Casey Choi began working at South Korea’s SK E&C in 2008, having spent the previous 30 years in the US. He joined the US’ Bechtel in 1981, working in key roles in the oil and gas, power, and mining and metals business units. Among other positions, he was chief information officer for the oil, gas and chemical global business unit in Houston. Choi joined SK E&C as chief technical officer. Since 2009, he has been responsible for the firm’s global marketing, oil, gas, petrochemicals, power, telecommunication and civil infrastructure business units. Under his leadership, SK E&C has won three onshore packages at Wasit worth about $2.6bn. He studied at the US’ University of California, gaining a doctorate in construction management and IT and a master’s in transportation engineering. He also has a degree in civil engineering from South Korea’s Seoul National University.

Contact Tel: (+82) 2 3700 7114

Pietro Franco Tali

Position: CEO, Saipem

Biography: Tali joined Italy’s Saipem in 1993 and became chief executive in 2000. Saipem has been successful in the Middle East and North Africa region, winning the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the offshore package of the Wasit project, a deal worth about $2.1bn. Prior to joining Saipem, Tali had a varied career in Italy. Between 1981 and 1993 he worked for Italian textile giant Savio, reaching the position of administration, finance and control manager. On moving to Saipem, he was appointed to the same role. He stayed in this position until 1996, when he became finance and control managing director. In 1999, Tali briefly worked as managing director for commercial activities at sister company Agip Petroli, before becoming chief executive of Saipem. He has degrees in business economics and political science.

Contact Tel: (+39) 025201

Hong-Pyo Kong

Position: Chief marketing officer, Samsung Engineering

Biography: Hong-Pyo Kong has worked for South Korea’s Samsung Engineering for more than 20 years and has built his career with the company. The firm won the EPC contract for the cogeneration package on the Wasit project and, like Saipem, has enjoyed a great deal of success in Saudi Arabia’s hydrocarbons market over the past three years. Since joining Samsung Engineering, Kong has been at the forefront of the company’s diversification and expansion into the Middle East. In his current role as chief marketing officer, Kong has overall responsibility for all oil, gas and petrochemical projects in the region. He has spent more than a decade in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and his previous roles include working as the general manager of hydrocarbon business development and marketing, as well as managing director of the company’s Saudi Arabia office.

Contact Tel: (+ 82) 3 458 3000

Thom Orr

Position: Vice-president of business development, Jacobs Engineering

Biography: Orr has worked in the engineering and construction industry for more than 30 years, joining the US’ Jacobs Engineering in 2009. The firm carried out a portion of the front-end engineering and design (feed) on the Wasit project and is extremely active in Saudi Arabia. The company recently signed the general engineering services-plus (GES-plus) contract with Saudi Aramco, which means it is able to bid on further engineering work for the oil giant. Prior to joining Jacobs, the Texas-born executive worked for several other US companies, including J Ray McDermott, Brown & Root, Fluor and Chicago Bridge & Iron. He has worked on projects in countries as diverse as Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, the UAE, Qatar, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. He has been involved in business development for more than 15 years and prior to that worked as a project controls professional.

Contact Tel: (+966) 3 898 9900

Pierre Duhaime

Position: President and CEO, SNC-Lavalin Group

Biography: Quebec-born Duhaime has a wealth of experience in the non-ferrous metal and process plant construction sectors. Duhaime began his career in 1975 as a research and development technician for the US’ Noranda. He became a metallurgist in the 1980s, working for both Canadian Electrolytic Zinc and American Iron and Metal Company. Duhaime joined SNC Lavalin in 1989 as a project manager and has held a variety of roles, including vice-president of projects and technology and vice-president of the aluminium division. He was appointed head of mining and metallurgy worldwide in 2003, before being appointed to his current position in 2009. He also sits on the board of directors. Canada’s SNC Lavalin also worked on the feed for the Wasit scheme and has signed a GES-plus contract with Saudi Aramco.

Contact Tel: (+1) 514 393 1000

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