Argus Base Oils Conference Asia, Middle East & Africa

Samer Akram

Director, Unichem

Samer Akram was born in Saudi Arabia and grew up in London, England, going on to study law and achieving his Bachelor of Laws (LLB), continuing as a postgraduate to complete a Legal Practice Course, and then Articles at a well-known London law firm, and was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in July 2003, practising law in England & Wales for over 10 years as a criminal litigator, before relocating to Durban, South Africa, to take up the role of Director of Operations at Unichem Services, a speciality lubricants, base stocks and chemicals distributor & lubricants manufacturer, servicing the lubricant and grease blenders in sub-Saharan Africa & the Middle East. In 2013, Unichem acquired Habot Oil, a dedicated, private label, fully synthetic lubricant blend plant located in Johannesburg, servicing the mining, aviation, processing, and heavy industries in Southern Africa. In 2017, Samer was appointed Managing Director of Habot Marine Services, the authorised distributor of ExxonMobil Marine Lubricants in South Africa & Mozambique. Over the last 10 years Unichem has established itself as a technology leader in Energy Efficient Lubricant Design. Through global partnerships and investment in local talent we have partnered with our customers to consistently deliver locally designed, blended, and marketed synthetic lubricants. Samer is a member of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE), the South African Institute of Tribology (SAIT), the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa (IODSA) and The Law Society of England & Wales

Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed

CEO, PACHEM Global Pvt Ltd

Imtiaz Ahmed is a highly experienced business professional in the petrochemical industry. With over 28 years of experience in this field, he has held a variety of senior positions in several prominent companies, including Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PACHEM Global Pvt Limited, Faras Fertilizer Company Pvt Limited, and International Petrochemicals (Pvt) Limited.

Imtiaz began his career as an Assistant Professor at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, where he taught for four years. He then went on to pursue his Ph.D. at the University of Mississippi, which he completed in 1990. After graduation, he went on to become the owner of several successful businesses in the petrochemical industry.

With his commitment to excellence and his unwavering dedication to the industry, Imtiaz is poised to continue making a significant impact in the world of petrochemicals for many years to come.

Nitin Anand

General Manager - Procurement and Planning, Raj Petro Specialities Pvt Ltd

Anant Bhargava

Director, IFP Petro Products Pvt Ltd

Michael Boyer

Director, SAIL-Europe

Mike joined SAIL-Europe as director in November 2021 from Lubrizol having worked within the lubricants industry for 24 years. He has held numerous technical and commercial positions which have provided him with a wide range of skills and experience within the automotive lubricants industry including product line management and managing lubricant qualification technical programs in accordance with the industry codes of practice that collectively make up the EELQMS process.

In his current role as Director at SAIL-Europe, Mike is responsible for managing the letter of conformance, EELQMS sub-licensing and product survey and compliance schemes on behalf of ATIEL.

Mike holds an MSc degree in Lubricant and Hydraulic Technology from De Montfort University in the United Kingdom and has presented technical and commercial papers at a number of high-profile seminars and conferences throughout the world.

Joyce Cai

, Wuchan Zhongda Chemical Group

Nikhil Agarwal

Managing Director, Globestar Energy FZE

Mr Nikhil Agarwal is a dynamic, result oriented leader with a rich experience of 25 plus years in Fortune 500 organisations. He is an engineer and holds an MBA (Marketing & Sales) and MBA (Energy Management) from University of Houston, Texas and Indian Institute of Management. Mr Agarwal used his deep industry knowledge, strong educational background and commercial acumen to set up Globestar Energy FZE, a highly reputed name in base oil trade. Globestar is successfully trading all base oil grades and petrochemicals in MENA, Far East Asia, India and Africa. His past work experience includes senior sales and marketing positions at Elf Lubricants, TotalEnergies India, Reliance Industries and Diamond Petroleum.

Guo Harn Hong

Global Lead Base Oils, Argus

Guo Harn graduated from the National University of Singapore with First Class Honours in Economics. He was on the university’s Dean List in 2014/2015 and 2016/2017. Guo Harn also holds a diploma with highest distinction in Business Information Technology from Temasek Polytechnic. He was on the institute’s Director’s Honour’s List in 2009 and 2010.

Victor Hu

Senior Analyst, Argus

Victor studied International Politics LLB in college and started working as a PRA reporter from 2007. Victor has covered dozens of products ranging from ferrous/non-ferrous metals to oil products and began covering the Chinese base oils market from 2021.

Tara Tang

Senior Reporter, Argus

Li Li Chng

Associate Editor, Argus

Christian Hotten

Reporter, Argus