State-owned Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) has appointed Christiaan van der Wouden as its chief operating officer (COO) with immediate effect, said a report.

Van der Wouden, a Dutch citizen, came to Qatar in 2010 as contract and procurement manager for Shell Qatar. In 2013, he was appointed chief operating officer (COO) for Shell-QP’s Al Kaarana petrochemicals, before transferring fully into QP in 2015.

Additionally, Orpic also appointed Nazar Al Lawati as its chief financial officer (CFO).

Al Lawati possesses more than 20 years’ experience in the Gulf region, in oil and gas and consumer sectors.

An Omani national, he started his career in 1995 as a petroleum engineer with Petroleum Development Oman (PDO). In 1998, he joined Unilever as a finance management trainee and progressed to various finance management regional roles in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

In 2004, Al Lawati returned to the oil and gas sector – joining Shell Upstream to lead the implementation of SOX 404 in the Middle East. During his time with Shell, he was responsible for governance risk and assurance in the region, and was later appointed as finance manager for Shell’s Upstream business in Abu Dhabi and Pakistan.

Returning to Oman in 2011, he joined Orpic as manager of financial services, before being promoted to the role of chief financial officer the following year, added the report.