The firefighting lady. The iron lady of the Middle East. This is how the CEO of Kuwait Energy, Sara Akbar is known. She has more than 30 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry, and we are proud to welcome her as one of the speakers at ONS 2014.

Sara Akbar is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Kuwait Energy, one of the few independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the Middle East. She has had several senior positions in Kuwait Oil Company and Kuwait Foreign Petroleum (KUFPEC).

She is a chemical engineer, and is well-known as the first woman to hold a leading position in the oil and gas industry in the Middle East.

Oil well firefighter Ms. Akbar has received much acclaim for her heroic efforts as part of the Kuwait Wild Well Killers Team, which extinguished the country’s oil well fires after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1991. This earned her the designation “Firefighter” and the Global 500 Award, presented by the United Nations in recognition of environmental achievements around the world.

Sara Akbar also received the prestigious ‘Leader in Energy’ award in the 2009 ‘Women in Leadership’ Awards and Forum.

In 2013, she won the Charles F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal for her wisdom, bravery, and leadership that made her a hero in the Gulf war, for her career achievements and for being a role model and leader in the oil and gas industry.

Kuwait Energy, with Ms. Akbar as CEO, is one of the fastest growing independent oil and gas companies in the Middle East.

Tags: ONS 2014