Mohammed Alwazzan
Vice President, Operations – Hydrocarbons and Chemicals

“What I enjoy most about my job is the opportunity to be part of the transition journey of natural gas in Saudi Arabia.”

Based in our Dammam office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed is responsible for driving the strategic direction of our in-Kingdom operations.

“I make sure our work aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and our priorities as a company. This involves creating long term plans for our projects and initiatives in line with our sustainability commitments, to help diversify Saudi Arabia's economy,” he says.

“Our ongoing communications with local government, our customers and local communities is an important part of making Vision 2030 a success. That’s why we make sure our stakeholders are informed and engaged in all the work we’re doing across the region.”

Natural gas as a transition fuel

Natural gas and liquified natural gas (LNG) are set to play a significant role towards achieving in-Kingdom economic diversification, explains Mohammed.

“Saudi Arabia is increasing its domestic gas production to meet the growing domestic energy demand and reduce reliance on oil for electricity generation,” he says. “There’s also a growing focus on LNG, which is a strategic move to diversify energy exports and gain access to global markets.”

Mohammed explains how this impacts our work.

“Natural gas is a transition fuel to help meet current energy demands with a lower carbon intensity than other fossil fuels. It also enhances global energy security, while buying time for lower carbon energy sources like hydrogen and renewable energy to reach the scale needed for net zero.

“Our work delivering natural gas projects to diversify Saudi Arabia’s energy system is part of this.”

Decarbonizing natural gas through technology innovation

But Mohammed stresses the importance of acknowledging the growing scrutiny over the continued development of gas projects.

“Despite being a lower carbon alternative to oil, gas production still has environmental impacts,” says Mohammed. “And it's our role to support our customers with issues such as methane emissions and water usage.

“In Saudi Arabia, we’re combining our natural gas experience with our global expertise to integrate sustainable technologies and processes across our projects. And we continue to explore the latest innovations in gas processing, LNG production and carbon capture technologies to support the decarbonization of our customers’ operations,” he explains.

"The challenge of integrating innovative technologies and managing diverse teams keeps me engaged and inspired every day. And seeing the direct benefits our projects are having in helping to reduce emissions and improving energy efficiency is rewarding.”