Eng. Mater A. Al-Dhafeeri is the commercial vice president of Sahara International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem).
With over 25 years of experience in the field of oil and gas processing and the petrochemicals industry, Al-Dhafeeri has successfully led business organizations, giving him extensive experience of technical, operations, and management skills.
He is also the chairman of the board for Sipchem Europe and a member of the board at various Sipchem affiliates companies.
In 2019, following the company’s billion-dollar merger with Sahara Petrochemicals Co., he was appointed as vice president of sales and marketing of the newly integrated Sipchem.
In 2015, he was promoted as the general manager of Sipchem Marketing Co. after he was appointed as the intermediaries operations general manager in 2012. He also established the value chain planning department for managing demand and supply planning in 2011. Al-Dhafeeri joined Sipchem as an operations manager in 2008 where he led the commissioning and startup efforts, which was a major part of the Acetyls complex — the first of its kind in the Middle East.
Prior to joining Sipchem, he held various positions at Saudi Aramco, where he served as a process engineer, construction engineer, senior process engineer, and lead operations and production engineer. During his time at Aramco, he gained broad industry experience and insights by working on several important projects.
Al-Dhafeeri holds a master’s degree in natural gas engineering and management from the University of Oklahoma, US, and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Tulsa, US, where he graduated summa cum laude.
He has also completed several executive management programs and gained alumnus status at Kellogg’s School of Management and Harvard Business School.
