Hadi Hallouche

Chief Executive of Puma Energy and Global Co-Head of Oil Trading, Trafigura

In October 2019, Hadi Hallouche was appointed Co-Head of Trafigura’s Oil Trading Division. This follows his two-year tenure as Head of Oil Singapore where he was responsible for managing the company’s oil and gas trading activity across the Asia Pacific region. Hadi joined Trafigura in 2011 as an LNG Trader. Prior to joining Trafigura, Hadi spent seven years in Royal Dutch Shell. Hadi, an Algerian national, holds a PhD in Economics.

Pierre Lorinet

DIRECTOR, TRAFIGURA

Pierre joined Trafigura in 2002 and was appointed CFO in January 2007. Before joining Trafigura, he was employed by Merrill Lynch London and Banque Indosuez in the Middle East in various debt and capital market roles. Pierre left Trafigura in October 2015 but remains a director on several boards.

René Médori

NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, PUMA ENERGY

René joined the Puma Energy Board as non-Executive Chairman on 3 March 2020. René holds dual French and British nationality. He brings significant experience to the Board from his executive roles in the energy and natural resources sectors. He also has invaluable direct experience of international best practice in corporate governance and operating responsibly in emerging markets to the company. René was previously Chief Financial Officer of Anglo American, and Group Finance Director of The BOC Group. He currently holds Non-Executive Directorships at Newmont and Vinci and he is also Chairman of Petrofac.

Michael Wainwright

DIRECTOR, TRAFIGURA

Michael was appointed Chief Operating Officer and Trafigura Management Board member in January 2008. His principal focus is the management of the middle and back office support teams for the trading division, direct responsibility for the Group’s P&L and responsibility for the Finance function at Board level. Mike joined Trafigura in 1996. He has held various roles within the Group, covering accounting, deals desk and middle office IT development. Mike holds a BSc in Mathematics and Actuarial Studies from Southampton University.

Hadi Hallouche

Chief Executive of Puma Energy and Global Co-Head of Oil Trading, Trafigura

In October 2019, Hadi Hallouche was appointed Co-Head of Trafigura’s Oil Trading Division. This follows his two-year tenure as Head of Oil Singapore where he was responsible for managing the company’s oil and gas trading activity across the Asia Pacific region. Hadi joined Trafigura in 2011 as an LNG Trader. Prior to joining Trafigura, Hadi spent seven years in Royal Dutch Shell. Hadi, an Algerian national, holds a PhD in Economics.

Carlos Pons

Chief Financial Officer of Puma Energy

Carlos joined Trafigura in 2013 and has 17 years of experience in M&A, financing and asset and portfolio management in the energy sector. He started his career in Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs in London and Moscow executing numerous M&A, equity and debt capital market transactions. He joined Trafigura from Glencore where he was responsible for M&A in the Oil department. Throughout his career, Carlos has been heavily involved in portfolio management, integration and restructurings. Carlos also served as Co-Chief Executive Officer for Wolverine Fuels LLC in 2017 and 2018. Carlos is a Board member of several Trafigura Group companies including Wolverine Fuels, Porto Sudeste and Mineração Morro do Ipê. Carlos is a Spanish national and holds a BA in Business Administration from the University of ICADE Madrid, Spain. He is a Spanish native speaker and fluent in English, French and Russian.

Martin Urdapilleta

Head of Puma Energy Latin America

Martin Urdapilleta was appointed Head of Puma Energy Latin America in June 2021 and is responsible for Puma Energy’s downstream businesses and operations across the region. He also holds the position of General Manager, Argentina for Trafigura. Martin joined Trafigura in 2008 in the Buenos Aires office as a regional petroleum products trader. In 2010, having relocated to Geneva, he became Head of the Bio-Diesel desk and in 2012 Co-Head of the Distillates desk. In 2013 he moved to Singapore and took on the additional responsibility of managing the Naphtha and Condensates desk. In 2015 he became Head of Oil Trading Asia and a Director of Trafigura Group Pte Ltd. He was appointed Global Head of Crude Oil from September 2016 to December 2017, in addition to running the Asian oil business. Martin was appointed General Manager of Trafigura Argentina in August 2018, responsible for the Group’s growing activities in the country. Prior to joining Trafigura, Martin worked at Bunge, focused on bio-diesel and agricultural products. Martin is an Industrial Engineer by training and graduated from the Instituto Tecnologico de Buenos Aires.

Fadi Mitri

Head of Africa

Before becoming Puma Energy’s Head of Africa in September 2021, Fadi was Trafigura’s Head of Business Development for LNG and gas. Prior to joining Trafigura, Fadi worked for Royal Dutch Shell for 12 years in Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, and Dubai, in a variety of roles including lubricants supply chain management, government relations, and mergers and acquisitions. In 2012, Fadi moved to Shell’s LNG division and worked across Europe, Africa and Latin America.

Sean Craig

Head of Human Resources

Sean took up his appointment as Head of Human Resources at Puma Energy in April 2021. Sean joined the business in July 2012 as Head of HR Systems. During his time with Puma Energy, he has also undertaken the roles of Global Head of HR Operations and Systems, European Head of HR, Head of Africa HR, Global Head of Digital HR Transformation, Interim CHRO and Global Head of People & Culture and Transformation. Prior to joining Puma Sean consulted for Oracle Systems for 5 years as their HR Technology Stream Lead & Technical Delivery Manager. Sean has extensive experience in Global HR Management, in both established and emerging markets, HR Systems, HR Operations and HR digitalisation. Sean is experienced in driving organisational change in multiple sectors such as Oil & Gas, Mining and banking. Sean has over 15 years’ experience in the HR industry. He holds an MBA from the IE Business School in Spain and a Bachelors in Commerce from the University of Johannesburg.

Seamus Kilgallon

Head of Aviation

Seamus took up his current position as Executive Head of Aviation in September 2021 and is based in the Geneva Office. Seamus joined the business in 2016 as Head of Aviation Fuels and was initially based out of the Geneva office relocating to the Johannesburg Office in 2017. Prior to joining Puma Seamus worked for Shell in various roles focusing on the sales and marketing of fuels, lubricants and technical products to various industries. The roles include General Manager for Aviation Africa, Global Strategy & Marketing Manager, Global Lubricants OEM Sales Manager and Global Lubricants M&A Portfolio Manager. Seamus has over 20 years’ experience in the fuels and lubricants and industry. He has a first class Bachelor of Science with honours from Ulster University in Belfast, is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in London, and completed the Management Acceleration Programme at INSEAD in Paris.

Omar Zaafrani

Head of Corporate Affairs and ESG

Omar joined Puma Energy as Head of Corporate Affairs and ESG in January 2022. Prior to joining Puma Omar spent 5 years working for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) as Senior Vice President of Group Communications where he was responsible for internal and external communications, brand positioning and corporate social responsibility. He played a central role in helping to reposition, transform and modernise the organisation. Previously he served as Head of Energy Communications for Mubadala (the UAE Sovereign Wealth Fund and an important Trafigura partner), and Strategy and International Communications Manager for Masdar (Abu Dhabi’s Future Energy Company). Omar is a Board Member of the World Energy Council and the Chair of their Strategy and Communications Committee. He has a BA in English Literature from Concordia University in Canada and an Executive MBA from Insead Business School in France.

Nicacio Brusaferro

General Counsel

Prior to becoming General Counsel at Puma Energy, Nicacio spent 10 years as senior counsel at Trafigura mainly focused on Africa and Latin America with 22 years’ experience in the commodities industry. Before joining Trafigura, Nicacio was Chief Legal Officer Middle East-North of Africa for Vale, based in the Middle East and prior he worked as International Projects legal counsel, covering major integrated capital projects in Africa, Middle East and Southeast Asia. Nicacio graduated in Law and Management in Brazil with a MBA in International Trade from FGV (2005) and post-graduation in International Trade Law from Universita di Torino/Istituto di Studi Europei (2004).

Sophonie Babo

Head of Strategy & Business Development

Sophonie Babo was appointed as Head of Strategy & Business Development, in January 2022. In this role, Sophonie manages the central retail function, in addition to leading business development initiatives for the group, in particular around new fuels and future energies. Over the last 17 years, Sophonie has held various roles across the downstream sector in Africa with Shell, Puma Energy and Oryx Energies. Sophonie was Puma Energy’s Managing Director for Mozambique before transitioning to Oryx Energies as the Managing Director of Tanzania and later as the Group Head of Retail. In May 2021, Sophonie re-joined the Trafigura Group as COO for Africa Trading. In his new capacity, Sophonie will be a member of Puma’s Executive Committee while also retaining his Trafigura role as COO for Africa Trading.