Week 4 in Review: Appointments, highlights from Davos, and an iktva preview

Business is picking up at Aramco, and so is the news cycle.

Announcements of the appointment of four new senior vice presidents led headlines this week, followed by the CEO and other key members of management speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Readers also got a preview of next week’s iktva Forum and Exhibition, expected to be the biggest ever.

Here’s a quick look at the week’s top headlines.

Four appointed as senior vice president

Sulaiman M. Ababtain, Yahya A. Abu Shal, Meshari M. Alshaikhmubarak, and Abdullah S. Al-Suwailem appointed to key management roles.

The appointments became effective on Jan. 1

Ababtain was named as a senior vice president, leading SOFON Holding, while Abu Shal was named senior vice president and just two months prior had been named CEO of Sadara.

Meanwhile, Alshaikhmubarak was named as senior vice president of the Office of the Chairman, and Al-Suwailem was appointed senior vice president and president and CEO of Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical (SATORP).

CEO emphasizes the need for coexistence at the World Economic Forum in Davos

Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser was among three key leaders from the company speaking at World Economic Forum in Davos last week.

For his part, Nasser spoke about the company’s efforts to ensure the world’s energy needs continue to be met.

“Policymakers are going to have to admit to the fact that alternatives for the foreseeable future cannot shoulder the burden of delivering a reliable energy supply in the way that oil and gas does,” he said.

Aramco, for its part, is not sitting back and waiting for this realization to kick in.
— Amin Nasser

Company’s Global Lighthouse facilities illuminate a path toward a brighter future

By harnessing the power of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0), three Aramco facilities granted “Global Lighthouse” status show how smarter, safer, and more-efficient energy production can be possible.

Plants in Abqaiq, ‘Uthmaniyah, and Khurais have been recognized for their bold new innovations and commitment to IR4.0 solutions on a significant level. For example, technology has helped us to increase production at Khurais, while simultaneously reducing power consumption by 18%, reducing our maintenance costs by 30%, and cutting inspection times by around 40%.

Meanwhile, Plants is in close proximity to the Ghawar Intelligence Center, which acts as a IR 4.0 information hub across several fields.

And the coming years will see the pace of change increase further, promising innovations that we are only just beginning to imagine, with our three Global Lighthouse facilities lighting the way. 

iktva Preview: ‘Accelerating Future Success’ promises a bigger and better forum and exhibit

From relatively humble beginnings in the Dammam Office Building in 2015, to a must-go-to event in 2023 at the Dhahran Expo for top suppliers globally, local suppliers, and crucially local small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the iktva Forum and Exhibition has come a long way. 

Its growth has mirrored the tangible successes of the In-Kingdom Total Value Add (iktva) Program, which has emerged in the intervening years as a catalyst for the transformation of Aramco’s supply chain and of how the company does its procurement business.

The event is over four days for the first time this year, and this is because we listened to feedback from previous years and realized that people were keen to have extended networking opportunities, and wanted more time to do business. A lot of business is done at the event.

— Mohammad A. Al Shammary

The iktva 2023 Forum and Exhibition gets under way on Jan. 30 and runs through Feb. 2 under the banner theme “Accelerating Future Success.”

Exhibiting safety leadership on a global stage

The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) Middle East Chapter (MEC) Professional Development Conference and Exhibition took place in Bahrain recently, bringing together industry leaders and subject matter experts to focus on “Sustaining HSE Excellence.”

Opening the conference at the Island Kingdom’s Gulf Hotel, Aramco’s executive vice president of Human Resources and Corporate Services, Nabeel A. Al-Jama’ said, “I believe our mission as safety leaders and professionals goes beyond sustaining excellence. Rather, we must pursue continual improvement — raising our standards instead of simply sustaining them.”

Aramco’s keynote speakers at the event were senior vice president of Project Management, Abdulkarim A. Al Ghamdi, and senior vice president of Safety and Industrial Security, Aali M. Al Zahrani. 

Both detailed Aramco’s efforts toward safety, such as strong leadership, critical systems such as quarterly reviews, and robust programs.