Steering Committee

Meet the phenomenal Industry Leaders behind the event

Ali Alzahrani

Director, Saudi Petroleum Services Polytechnic (SPSP)

Ali has a master’s degree in Chemical and Petroleum Refining Engineering from Colorado School of Mines, USA and a bachelor’s degree in Applied Chemical Engineering from KFUPM. He has 34 Years diverse experience in Oil, Gas and Refining Industry, all with Saudi Aramco and affiliates. Held various capacities as Principal Professional with Central Engineering , Director of International Joint Ventures, Refineries Engineering and Operations Manager and Distribution Facilities Manager. Headed Capital Planning Divisions and R&D Divisions. Taught professional engineering courses: Refining Economics Courses and Petroleum Refining Processes. Mentored Engineering Specialists and professionals. Was a Steering Committee member for many years on Aramco Energy Steering Committee. Chaired conferences technical and scientific committees and chaired technical sessions at World Petroleum Congress and others.

Omar Mohsen BaDhurais

Director, Strategy & BudgetingManufacturing (Jubail), Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC)

Omar Mohsen Badhurais is the Director of Strategy and Budgeting for SABIC Corporate Manufacturing. He graduated from King Fahad University of Petroleum & Minerals with a Bachelor of Science degree in Project Management & Engineering. He further went on to take his Master of Engineering in KFUPM. Omar is a Distinguished Member of US-based Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. He is also a mentor of SIX SIGMA Implementation. He was General Manager for Maintenance for Jubail United Petrochemical Company, a SABIC affiliate, from April 2015 before taking up his current post in June 2017.

Raphael Duflos

VP Manufacturing, Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company (SATORP)

Raphael Duflos is now Vice President, Manufacturing in SATORP (JV Saudi Aramco and Total located at Jubail industrial area in Saudi Arabia). Over a career of 20 years in the Total group, mainly in refining, Raphael started as process engineer followed by a position as Offsites Operation Superintendent in Donges Refinery (France). He was then assigned in Feyzin Refinery (France) as Operations Superintendent; he was appointed Operations Manager of Petrocedeno Heavy Crude Oil upgrader (JV PDVSA and Total located at Jose industrial area in Venezuela). His next position was Corporate Audit manager for Total’s Upstream activities in Africa and Americas. Early 2018, he was appointed Deputy General Manager of Grandpuits refinery (France) and then moved to Saudi Arabia in April 2019

Talal Al Gaidi

Director - Global Technical Support Asset Technology Center, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC)

20+ years of experience in leadership and technical fields at different organizations. A proactive leader and strong ability to develop innovative solutions to existing challenges. He is an agile and pragmatic problem solver with great resilience in resolving complex leadership tasks. BS in Engineering Technology from St Cloud State University, US with dual associate degrees in industrial electronics and digital computing, Dunwoody Institute, US and minor in Aviation Management.