Our Leaders

Leadership Team
Datuk Bacho Pilong
Senior Vice President of Malaysia Petroleum Management

Datuk Bacho Pilong is currently the Senior Vice President of Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM). He was appointed to this role in December 2023.

 

Beginning his career in April 1992 as a Process Engineer in PETRONAS, he had progressed through numerous domestic and international assignments and held senior leadership positions, including Vice President for Malaysia Assets, Vice President for International Assets and Senior General Manager of Production and Operations Management at MPM. Among his notable achievements is leading the Cost Reduction Alliance (CORAL 2.0), an industry-led collaboration towards industry cost competitiveness in Upstream Malaysia, recognised by the World Economic Forum.

 

As the Senior Vice President of Project Delivery & Technology from August 2021 to November 2023, he steered initiatives aligning to PETRONAS’ targets in value creation, expansion into non-traditional business and net zero carbon emissions. Focusing on innovation, technologies, and partnerships to develop low-carbon energy solutions, some significant achievements under his stewardship include the convergence of engineering and digital domains through advanced analytics, and a growing portfolio of solutions supporting the organisation’s sustainability goals.

 

To intensify PETRONAS’ decarbonisation efforts, Datuk Bacho has also played a key role in driving Enterprise Decarbonisation, leading to the success of the inaugural Race2Decarbonise, a global hackathon and crowdsourcing of innovative ideas for decarbonisation – the first of its kind in the world.

 

He channels his passion in learning and nurturing talent for the energy sector through his role as Chairman of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS Board of Directors and Adjunct Professors at the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), aside from speaking at various industry forums such as Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Malaysia Oil and Gas Services Council (MOGSC), Ceraweek in Houston, Asia Oil & Gas Conference (AOGC) and Oil & Gas UK Conference.

 

Datuk Bacho has a Degree in Chemical Engineering, from the University of Texas, Austin, United States of America (USA). He had also successfully completed the Senior Management Development Programme at INSEAD in Singapore, and the Advance Management Programme at Wharton, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Azmir Zamri
Head Resource Exploration

Azmir is the Head of Resource Exploration, Malaysia Petroleum Management, Upstream, PETRONAS effective 1 January 2022. Azmir first joined PETRONAS in 1996 as an Explorationist with PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd. Since then, he has been involved in several exploration ventures in Malaysia and abroad, including helming leadership positions as the Country Manager of Brunei and Head of Atlantic Basin Studies. He is highly experienced in the commercial and corporate aspects of the business having taken on crucial roles as Head of Upstream Business Development, General Manager at the President & Group CEO’s Office, and Vice President of Strategy and Commercial at PETRONAS Canada in Calgary. Among his notable achievements include the Kelidang Cluster deepwater gas discoveries in Brunei, PETRONAS’ successful entry into Mexico and Gabon, assets high grading in Canada, and the reshaping of the Canada Monetisation Master Plan.

 

Azmir has a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Geology & Applied Geology from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK.

Norafizal Mat Saad
Head Resource Development & Management

 

 

 

Handan Ramli
Head Production & Operations Management

Handan was appointed as Head Production & Operations Management in MPM in early 2019, with almost 30 years of experience in project delivery and management. Prior to his appointment in MPM, he played a number of key roles in PETRONAS, including as Head of Garraf oilfield project delivery in Iraq, Head of Project Delivery (Upstream International) and Project Director for ENGEN Petroleum Ltd based in Durban, South Africa. Some of Handan’s outstanding contributions include delivering several Field Development Plans for oil & gas resources development in Malaysia, leading the achievement of the first oil in Garraf Field and the first deepwater decommissioning project offshore Mauritania.

 

Handan received his Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from University College London.

Adiana Mastura M Idris
Head Governance & Strategic Relations

 

 

 

Aidid Chee Tahir
Head Integrated Hydrocarbon Management

Aidid joined MPM as the Head Integrated Hydrocarbon Management in 2021. Leading up to his current appointment, he was the Chief Strategy Officer of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS. Aidid brings with him more than 20 years of experience in both upstream and downstream businesses spanning from Corporate Strategic Planning to plant operations at PETRONAS Gas Berhad, a public listed subsidiary of PETRONAS.

 

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Brown University, a Master of Science in Engineering Business Management from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom and a Doctor of Philosophy from New College, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. He also holds a Professional Engineer with Practising Certificate (Mechanical) license from the Board of Engineers, Malaysia and 1st Grade Steam Generation and Internal Combustion Engineer Licenses from the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Malaysia.

Zairul Effendi B Zainal
Head Finance

Zairul was appointed as Head of MPM Finance in 2019. He joined PETRONAS in 1997 and has held various finance leadership roles in domestic and international ventures including as the Manager, Budget & Accounts at PETRONAS Carigali (Turkmenistan) Sdn Bhd in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan and as Head of Finance of PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd. He previously served on the board of PC JDA Limited. Prior to his current role, Zairul headed the Upstream Section in PETRONAS Group Corporate Finance, where he played a key role in negotiating and securing an external borrowing for PETRONAS Energy Canada Limited and a structured settlement deal for PICL Egypt Corporation (L) Limited. He was also a key member of PETRONAS negotiation team that concluded the commercial agreements signed with the State of Sarawak and Sabah in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

 

Zairul graduated with a degree in Accounting & Financial Analysis from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom.

Shahriman Johan Noor
General Counsel

Shahriman assumed his role as the General Counsel for Malaysia Petroleum Management in mid – 2019. He brings along close to 20 years of extensive experience in both upstream and downstream businesses of PETRONAS, with key assignments such as the acquisition of Myanmar Yetagun assets, in the construction and delivery of Block 1 Phase 1 gas sales during his stint in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan and in the finalisation of technology licenses and shareholders agreement for Project RAPID of Downstream business. He was also involved in PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad’s business model change as well as cementing its involvement in Project RAPID directly as a feedstock supplier and shareholder. In his subsequent role as the General Counsel of PETRONAS Lubricants International, he was in charge in overseeing the legal undertaking of the Group globally including in relations to the supply of fluid technology to Mercedes AMG PETRONAS Formula 1 team. As the General Counsel of MPM, he has been actively involved in concluding the commercial agreements with the State of Sabah and Sarawak in response to the State’s increasing demand for petroleum autonomy and regulatory rights.

 

He has a law degree from the University of Wales at Aberystwyth and attended the Centre for Petroleum and Mineral Law Policy, University of Dundee in 2003. Shahriman is a qualified Company Secretary from the Companies Commission of Malaysia and a member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) and the International Bar Association (IBA).

 

Shairizal Badzri
Head Health, Safety & Environment

Shairizal was appointed as the Head of Health Safety & Environment (HSE), Malaysia Petroleum Management on 1 Jan 2024. He started his career with PETRONAS in 2000 and has since been involved in multiple HSE roles in Malaysia and abroad, including Head of Crisis and Incident Management and Head of Strategy and Performance in Group Health, Safety and Environment (GHSE). Having taken on the crucial role as Head of Safety Engineering, Development Division in PCSB and later being appointed as Head of HSE Development Division, he possesses significant expertise in Upstream HSE.

 

Shairizal has made notable contributions, including the establishment of the Environmental Roadmap and Contractor HSE Management for Garraf Operations (PETRONAS Carigali Iraq BV), resulting in continuous improvement in HSSE statistics, and enhancing visibility towards sustainable development. In GHSE, his also leading successful HSSE digital transformation in Making Prescriptive Possible through establishment of various system under one myHSSE digital platform.

 

He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Process and a Masters in Business Law (LLM) from National University of Malaysia (UKM) and International Islamic University of Malaysia (UIA) respectively. He is also an appointed Industrial Advisory Panel of National University of Malaysia (UKM), University of Malaya (UM) Advisory Panel for UMCARES, Board Member of Petroleum Industry of Malaysia Mutual Aid Group (PIMMAG) and Independent Board Director of Oil Spill Response Limited, United Kingdom (UK).

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