Kuwait Leaders

Tareq Al-Wazzan: Biography
Mr. Al-Wazzan, Managing Director and CEO of AREF Energy Holdings, has held this position since 2007.  During that time he has guided the company in its investment decisions and operating philosophy to a point where it was recently awarded an international BB+ rating by Capital Standards.  Factors leading to this award were low debt, a highly liquid balance sheet and the diverse nature of its holdings, resulting in a high risk tolerance.
Mr. Al- Wazzan has been involved in all phases of the oil supply chain and global marketing throughout his varied career in the petroleum industry. This ranges from crude oil sales, thru refinery planning and operation, refined products marketing and customer relations.   Indeed, his early experience in crude oil sales served as a foundation on which he built his extensive career, matching refinery operations to meet world  wide demand and environmental issues, competitive analysis, and product marketing strategy.
He exhibits proven expertise in the following areas:
Sales and Marketing,  with his ability to identify and pursue opportunities, negotiate complex marketing contracts, and  create value maximized pricing;
Technical Analysis,  creating clear financial models based on marketing analysis;
Leadership,  with his ability to win commitment from varied groups on complex strategies and corporate goals;
Communications,  providing clear, concise presentation of complex ideas and plans to management, international customers and employees.    
 Prior to moving to AREF Energy, Mr. Al- Wazzan, held a succession of increasingly important management posts over his 23 years with the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, focusing on the Far Eastern Markets.   An eleven year varied sales path lead to his appointment in 1995 as Coordinator of Crude Oil Sales as covered earlier. A brief stint as Manager of the Tokyo Regional Office preceded his appointment, in 1999, as Manager of Crude Oil Sales, the core activity of the corporation.
For three years, 2003-2006, he was Far East Regional Manager.  Based in Tokyo, his responsibility included all Hydrocarbon sales to China, Taiwan, S. Korea and Japan.   His final position at KPC was Market Research Manager.  As such, he served on the KPC long/short range strategic planning team and instigated several creative ‘think-tank’ projects.  While with KPC he served as board member of the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC)
He holds a BSc in Business Administration, San Diego, USA, and has been a member of the Kuwait delegation at OPEC, and on many international conference venues such as Enterprise Risk Management, IT, Health, Safety & Environment and Personnel Development Planning.  He is also a board member of Kuwait Energy, and chairman of the board of Higleig Petroleum and Investments.
More information about Aref Energy:

More information
Interview
Company Profile
Videos: Kuwait Oil and Gas Production: 2020 Vision to Produce 4 million Barrels of Oil Kuwait: How to Enter Oil and Gas Sector Future Investments into Kuwait’s Oil and Gas Sector to Remain Uncertain Renewable Energy in Kuwait: Development of Renewables Oil Prices in 2012 to Remain Stable AREF Energy Investment Strategy

Walid Al-Hashash: Biography
Waleed Al Hashash is chairman of the board of Kuwait’s AREF Energy Holding Company. Born in Kuwait, he received his undergraduate education at Farleigh Dickenson University, New Jersey, USA, graduating in 1985 with a bachelor of science in industrial engineering. From 1985 to 1990, he served as an electrical engineer designing electrical and telecommunications work for projects owned by Kuwait Municipality, while also pursuing graduate studies. In 1990, he received a masters of science in industrial engineering from the University of Miami in Florida.
From 1990 to 2007, Hashash worked at Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) in the commercial oil trade, most recently as deputy managing director of marketing. In that role Hashash was responsible for crude oil sales, managing regional offices in the US and Japan, and holding a portfolio of approximjately US $2.7 billion. Hashash was also in charge of jet fuel, bunker and diesel sales, and IT services, with three regional offices in Singapore, India, and Pakistan, and a portfolio of US $12 billion per year.

More information
Interview
Company Profile
Videos: Kuwait Oil and Gas Production: 2020 Vision to Produce 4 million Barrels of Oil Kuwait: How to Enter Oil and Gas Sector Future Investments into Kuwait’s Oil and Gas Sector to Remain Uncertain Renewable Energy in Kuwait: Development of Renewables Oil Prices in 2012 to Remain Stable AREF Energy Investment Strategy

Established in 2007 as a subsidiary of AREF Investment Group, the AREF Group is a stable, long-term investor and one of the leading investment institutions in the region with a vision to become a conglomerate managing financially integrated companies. AREF Energy Holding Company was spun off as a subsidiary in 2007 to become the leading investment holding company specifically in the field of energy.
AREF Energy has been described as local, boutique, Shariah-compliant, energy investment house that has consolidated itself as an ideal local partner for foreign oil and gas services companies wishing to enter Kuwait and the Gulf region. AREF Energy seeks to develop strong partnerships with international mid-sized operational companies interested in joint ventures with an accountable Kuwaiti partner.
According to AREF Energy’s CEO, Waleed Al Hashash, “We are trying to represent Kuwait in seeking good opportunities, aligning ourselves with trustworthy partners and keeping our conduct of business ethical.”
Presently, AREF Energy is increasing its shares in energy services companies servicing both the upstream and downstream of energy extraction industries, including oil and gas and electricity as well as environmental sectors. AREF Energy is also expanding its holdings throughout the entire MENA region, as well as India and the U.S. According to Al Hashash, the company went from zero contracts in 2007 to USD $35 million in early 2011, and to more than USD $60 million by the beginning of 2012, spread across nine major investments.
AREF Energy’s investment policy is founded on a strong commitment to stimulate the transfer of technologies and knowledge into the region. “If we invest outside of the region our aim is to bring the transfer of technologies and knowledge to the area,” says Al-Hashash.
Al Hashash is also vice chairman and CEO of Rubban Logistics Holding Company of Kuwait, which is also a subsidiary of AREF Investments Group. He also serves as a member of the boards of MEGlobal, the Nile River Transport Company and Higleig Contracting, both of Sudan; and is chairman of Gulf Africa Holding (GAH) in Kuwait.