Plenary Speakers biography

HE Dr. Mohammad Mohsen Al Busairi
Oil Minister,
State Minister of National Assembly Affairs
Kuwait

Presided over the Branch Social Reform Society in Jahra and the Commonwealth of Faculty Members of the General Authority for Applied Education and Training, 1992–99. Read more

HE Mohamed Bin Dhaen Al Hamli
Minister of Energy
UAE

His Excellency Mohamed Bin Dhaen Al Hamli was appointed as Minister of Energy of UAE in November 2004. He obtained Higher Diploma in Business Administration in 1976, Certificate in Chartered Auditing in 1979, and Higher Diploma (Higher Studies) in Advanced Management and Chartered Accounting in 1988 from (UK&USA). Read more

Nasser Al-Jaidah
Chief Executive Officer
Qatar Petroleum International
Qatar

Mr. Nasser Al-Jaidah is a graduate of Geology and Petroleum Engineering; he has joined Qatar Petroleum in 1977. Currently he holds the position of Chief Executive Officer and a Board Member of Qatar Petroleum International, Board Member in Qatar Petroleum and Board Member of Industry Qatar. Read more

HE Dr. Mohammed Bin Hamad Al Rumhi
Minister of Oil & Gas
Sultanate of Oman

Since 1997 Minister of Oil and Gas,
Chairman of the PDO board of directors,
Chairman of ORPIC (Oman Refineries & Petrochemical Industrial Company) Read more

HE Dr. Mohamed Bin Saleh Al Sada
Minister of Energy and Industry
Chairman & Managing Director
Qatar Petroleum
Qatar

HE Dr. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada has been appointed as Minister of Energy & Industry on the 18 January 2011 and on 14th February 2011 also appointed as Qatar Petroleum’s Managing Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors. Read more

Olivier Appert
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Institut Français du Petrole
France

On April 2003, Mr. Appert was appointed Chairman and CEO of IFP Energies nouvelles. He is also chairing the Conseil Français de l'Energie, french committee of the World Energy Council. Read more

José Francisco Arata
President
Pacific Rubiales
Colombia

Mr. Arata has over twenty-nine years of experience in mineral and oil exploration in Latin America. He began his professional career with Maraven, an affiliate of PDVSA, where he held a variety of positions within the Exploration & Production Department. He has been working in the Colombian oil industry since 1996 and he was CEO and co-founder of Pacific Stratus Energy and a co-founder of Bolivar Gold Corp.
Read more

Antonio Brufau
Chairman & CEO, Repsol
Vice President, Gas Natural Fenosa Group
Spain

Born March 12, 1948, in Mollerussa (Lleida), Spain. Honorary Doctorate from the University Ramon Llull of Barcelona (October 2011). Graduate in Economics by the University of Barcelona. He began his professional career at Arthur Andersen, where he was made a Partner and Audit. Read more

Fu Chengyu
Chairman
China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group)
China

Since 1983, Mr. Fu had worked as Chairman of the Management Committees of joint ventures between China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and international oil majors of Amoco, Chevron, Texaco, Phillips, Shell and Agip. Read more

David Constable
Chief Executive
Sasol
South Africa

Directorships and Recognition: a member of the Institute of Petroleum; a member of the United States Energy Association; a board member of the U.S. – China Business Council; a board member of the Boy Scouts of America Circle 10 Council. Read more

Frederik Willem de Klerk
Nobel Peace Laureate
Chair of the Global Leadership Foundation
South Africa

Frederik Willem (FW) de Klerk was born in Johannesburg on 18 March 1936, the son of Senator Jan De Klerk, a senior Cabinet Minister. His school years were spent mainly in Krugersdorp, where he matriculated at Monument High School. He attended the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education and graduated in 1958 with BA and LLB degrees (cum laude). During his university years he was actively involved in student affairs. Read more

Christophe de Margerie
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
TOTAL
France

He joined the Group in 1974 after graduating from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, a French business school. He served in several positions in the Group’s Finance Department and Exploration & Production division.
He became President of Total Middle East in 1995 before joining the Group’s Executive Committee as the President of the Exploration & Production division in May 1999. Read more

John Defterios
Anchor
CNN

John Defterios is CNN's Emerging Markets Editor and anchor of Global Exchange, CNN’s new prime time business show focused on the emerging and BRIC markets. John has also been the anchor of ‘CNN Marketplace Middle East’, since 2007, a weekly business programme featuring in-depth analysis and top newsmakers from across the Middle East. Read more

Robert Dudley
Group Chief Executive
BP
United Kingdom

Bob joined Amoco Corporation in 1979, for whom he worked until its merger with BP in 1998. In his early career he held a variety of engineering and commercial posts in the US and UK. From 1987 he worked on the negotiation and development of projects in the South China Sea, following which he was involved in the restructuring of oil and gas research and development activities in the US Read more

HE Serge Dupont
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources
Canada

Serge Dupont has been the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) since October 12, 2010. He served one year as Associate Deputy Minister, NRCan, prior to being appointed in July 2009 as Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs (Privy Council Office) and Special Adviser to the Minister of Natural Resources on Nuclear Energy Policy. Read more

HE Abdalla Salem El-Badri
Secretary General
OPEC

HE Abdalla Salem El-Badri was appointed OPEC Secretary General on 1 January 2007. He began his oil industry career with Esso Standard (now ExxonMobil) in 1965 after studies in Accounting, Business Administration, Finance and Management in the United States and Libya. In 1977, he became a member of the Board of Directors of Libya’s Umm Al-Jawaby Oil Company, moving on to become Chairman of the Waha Oil Company (a joint venture company between the Libyan National Oil Company, Conoco, Amerada Hess and Marathon Oil) in 1980.
Read more

José Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo
Chief Executive Officer
Petrobras
Brazil

Mr. Gabrielli is full professor of Macroeconomics on leave from the Universidade Federal da Bahia– UFBA (Federal University of Bahia). He was born in Salvador (Bahia), and holds a PhD in Economics from Boston University. Read more

HE Rostam Ghasemi
Minister of Petroleum
Iran

HE Eng. Rostam Ghasemi has presided over major infrastructure building and industrial projects for the past 22 years. During His Excellency`s tenure as Managing Director of Khatam-Ul-Anbia Construction HQR, several major Upstream and downstream Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Projects were implemented. In addition, Khatam-Ul-Anbia has been involved in oil platforms construction and reconstruction projects, as well as dam and railways construction projects. Read more

Andrew Gould
Chairman
Schlumberger Limited
France

Andrew Gould is Chairman of Schlumberger Limited, a position he has held since August 2011. Prior to this, Mr. Gould was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Schlumberger Limited from February 2003 to July 2011. Read more

Daniel C. Heintzelman
President and CEO
GE Oil & Gas
Italy

On July 13, 2011, Daniel C. Heintzelman was named CEO of GE Oil & Gas. GE Oil & Gas employs more than 20,000 people and is a world leader in advanced technology equipment and services for all segments of the oil and gas industry. Read more

HE Dr. Ibrahim B. Ibrahim
Economic Advisor to HH The Emir
Qatar

HE Dr. Ibrahim B. Ibrahim was appointed the Secretary General for the General Secretariat for Development Planning (GSDP) in 2006. He is the Economic Advisor to HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani since 1988. Read more

HE Shri Sudini Jaipal Reddy
Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas
India

HE Shri Sudini Jaipal Reddy is a member of the 14th Lok Sabha. He is a member of the Indian National Congress. He is currently the Cabinet Minister of Urban Development. Read more

Zhou Jiping
President of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)
China

Mr. Zhou is a professor-level senior engineer and holds a master’s degree. He has nearly 40 years of working experience in China’s petrochemical industry. Read more

Helge Lund
President & Chief Executive Officer
Statoil
Norway

President and CEO of Statoil ASA since August 2004. Came to Statoil from the position of CEO in Aker Kværner ASA. Held central managerial positions in the Aker RGI system from 1999. Read more

H.E. Dr. Abdul Hussain Bin Ali Mirza
Minister of Energy
Bahrain

Dr. Mirza has obtained his PhD Doctorate from Middlesex University in London in Management of Change. Before that, he held three other Ministerial positions, Minister of State in 2002, Chairman of Tender Board 2003, Minister of Cabinet Affairs in 2004 and then Minister of Oil and Gas Affairs 2005. He was appointed as Minister of Energy on 24th February 2011 Read more

James Mulva
Chief Executive Officer
ConocoPhillips
United States of America

James Mulva served as president and chief executive officer of ConocoPhillips from 2002 to 2004. Prior to that, he served as chairman and chief executive officer of Phillips Petroleum Company from 1999 to 2002. Read more

Günther Oettinger
European Commissioner for Energy

Member of the European Commission responsible for energy since February 2010 Read more

Marvin Romanow
President & Chief Executive Officer
Nexen
Canada

Marvin Romanow is President and CEO of Nexen Inc. He started his career as a drilling engineer for a major independent oil company. His career has spanned many financial and operating roles, including professional and leadership roles in corporate finance, planning, business development, exploration and development, and reservoir engineering. Read more

Peter Sands
Group Chief Executive
Standard Chartered
United Kingdom

Peter Sands was appointed Group Chief Executive of Standard Chartered PLC in 2006 following four years as Group Finance Director, where he had responsibilities for Finance, Strategy, Risk and Technology and Operations. Read more

Francis Saville
Chair of the Board
Nexen
Canada

Francis Saville, 72, is Chair of Nexen. He was counsel with Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, Barristers and Solicitors until January 31, 2010. He joined the firm in 1965 and had an extensive practice in the areas of energy and environmental law, as well as municipal law and land-use planning. He specialized in representing energy corporations in regulatory applications. Read more

Paolo Scaroni
Chief Executive Officer
ENI
Italy

He has been Chief Executive Officer of Eni since June 2005. He is currently Non-Executive Director of Assicurazioni Generali, Non-Executive Deputy Chairman of London Stock Exchange Group, Non-Executive Director of Veolia Environnement. Besides he is in the Board of Overseers of Columbia Business School and Fondazione Teatro alla Scala. Read more

Klaus Schäfer
Chairman of the Board
E.ON Ruhrgas
Germany

since 11 August 2010: Chairman of the Board of Management, E.ON Ruhrgas AG, Essen
since October 2011: Chairman of the Board of Management E.ON Energy Trading SE, Düsseldorf
combined functions. Read more

Sergei Schmatko
Minister of Energy
Russia

2008: appointed Deputy Director of Atomenergoprom while remaining Head of Atomstroiexport. May 12, 2008: appointed Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation. Read more

Rex Tillerson
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
ExxonMobil
United States of America

A native of Wichita Falls, Texas, Mr. Tillerson earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin before joining Exxon Company, U.S.A. in 1975 as a Production Engineer. Read more

Maria van der Hoeven
Executive Director
International Energy Agency

Maria van der Hoeven took over as Executive Director of the IEA on 1 September 2011. Previously, Ms. Van der Hoeven served as Minister of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands from February 2007 to October 2010, during which time she demonstrated leadership on energy policy at the national, regional and global levels. Read more

Peter Voser
Chief Executive Officer
Royal Dutch Shell
Netherlands

Peter Voser became Chief Executive Officer on July 1, 2009.

Before his appointment as CEO, Peter had been Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and an Executive Director of Royal Dutch Shell since 2004. He was CFO of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies from October 2004 to July 2005. Read more

Rhonda Zygocki
Executive Vice President, Policy & Planning
Chevron Corporation
United States of America

Rhonda I. Zygocki is executive vice president of policy and planning for Chevron Corporation, a position she assumed in March 2011. Zygocki's responsibilities include strategy and planning; Policy, Government and Public Affairs; and Health, Environment and Safety. Previously, Zygocki served as vice president of Policy, Government and Public Affairs. Read more