Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell plc, has described Saudi Aramco's remote oil production facilities at Shaybah in the Rub' al-Khali (Empty Quarter) as "a huge achievement," and the Oil Supply Planning and Scheduling Department (OSPAS) and the Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center (EXPEC) as "mind-boggling." As chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell plc, he oversees the executive team and is accountable for business performance and strategy for one of the world's leading energy companies. Van der Veer, who recently visited the facilities at Shaybah along with his delegation, also held business discussions in Dhahran with president and CEO Abdullah S. Jum'ah; senior vice president of Exploration and Producing Abdullah S. Al-Saif; senior vice president of Refining, Marketing and International Abdulaziz F. Al-Khayyal; senior vice president of Industrial Relations Khalid A. Al-Falih; and Patrick Allman-Ward, CEO of the South Rub' al-Khali Co. (SRAK). Van der Veer spent two days touring Shaybah, OSPAS and EXPEC as well as a drilling site at SRAK. Shell has a 40-percent stake in SRAK, with Saudi Aramco and France's Total each holding 30 percent.
