TWO cousins have emerged as front-runners for the CEO post in the newly formed state-owned oil company Petros, said oil and gas industry insiders.

The Sarawak-based online news portal Dayak Daily said the majority of present and recently retired industry executives feel Abang Arabi Abang Narudin and his cousin, Abang Abdul Aziz Abang Mohammed, are favourites because of their extensive experience in the upstream sector of the industry.

Both also possess international exposure as they have both worked overseas and are relatively youthful. The Kuching duo are believed to be in their mid to late 50s.

Former Sarawak Shell executive, Abdul Karim Ali, said the state government should consider Abang Arabi as he is “young, energetic and has a high CEP”.

(CEP stands for current estimated potential, a Shell methodology to gauge its staff potential.)

“Compared with Abang Aziz, he (Abang Arabi) is a better potential in my opinion.

“But where Abang Arabi comes short to Abang Aziz is in experience,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Karim said whoever is picked would be a sure winner.

Dayak Daily, quoting an “ex-oil man” who spoke on condition he is not identified due to his “unflattering view of Petronas”, said Abang Arabi “has all the things going for him to be the CEO of Petros”.

“He is young, has extensive upstream experience, which should be an important consideration if he were to head an upstream company.

“And he has a lot of international exposure, another important factor.”

Abang Arabi is currently Petronas’ head of business development – upstream – and has held the position since July. He is now based at the Petronas headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

Abang Arabi’s first stint in the oil and gas industry was when he joined Shell Global Solutions, a unit of Shell and in 2010, he became its business development head.

In July 2012, he was tapped by the national oil company, Petronas, where he was immediately shipped overseas to be the country head of Petronas Carigali Canada Ltd.

In December 2012, he was made vice-president, new ventures and deep basin business of Progress Energy Canada Ltd, another subsidiary of Petronas.

He was then moved upwards as vice-president, strategy and new ventures in April 2014, a position he held for 3½ years before he was recalled back to Malaysia.

Abang Aziz is currently the group chief executive officer of Integrated Petroleum Services (IPS) KL, a company that provides support services to the oil and gas industry in Malaysia and the Asia-Pacific region.

His first stint in the industry was as Scomi Oiltools senior vice-president and head of Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.

In January 2008, he left Scomi Oiltools for IPS where he was its chief operating officer before becoming its group CEO in October 2013.

According to IPS’ website, the Kuala Lumpur-based company’s main business activities are in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry and offer services like chartering and management of drilling rigs, chartering and management of offshore support vessels, well, reservoir and integrated field management services and offshore engineering services.

The is where Abang Aziz has the edge over Abang Arabi, according to the executive familiar with both men – experience in the bidding and tendering process in the oil and gas industry.

The “ex-oilman” source of Dayak Daily is also of the opinion that Petros should not take too many executives from Petronas or the civil service to avoid having the “civil service culture” in the new oil company.

He said Petros should avoid the path Petronas took when it was established in 1974.

Most of the executives Petronas hired then were civil servants who were seconded to help out.

He said they invariably brought with them their civil service work ethics which he described as “slow, cumbersome as they have a deep infinitive penchant for bureaucracy and red tape, and they often spend lots of time politicking to get up the proverbial ladder”.

This, he said, had often put Petronas on the back foot when dealing with multinationals as their mindset is not tuned to business.

Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg, announced on August 7 that Petros was registered as a company and its board finalised.

He, however, did not disclose the board members, leading to much speculation. – August 15, 2017.