Sazali Hamzah
PETRONAS
Executive Vice President & Chief Executive Officer, Downstream
As the EVP & CEO of Downstream, Sazali is responsible for the refining, manufacturing, trading, and marketing value chain related to crude oil, petroleum as well as petrochemicals products. This includes the largest retail networks in Malaysia and South Africa under the brand names of PETRONAS and Engen respectively. Prior to this role, Sazali was the Senior Vice President and MD/CEO of PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG), a listed entity on Bursa Malaysia. Sazali spearheaded PCG from 2014 to 2021 – under his seven-year leadership, the company recorded growth in sales volume by 37% and market capitalisation by 64% in commodity and specialty chemicals from 52 subsidiaries with 24 production plants located in Malaysia, The Netherlands, Canada, Singapore, and Germany. PCG was ranked in the top 10 of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Chemicals Sector (2021). Sazali began his career in 1990 at PETRONAS’s first refinery (PPTSB) located in Kertih, Terengganu, Malaysia. His first 20 years’ experience covers petroleum refining, petrochemical, technical and engineering services, and project deliveries. His notable achievements include leading megaprojects and plant commercial operations of Kertih Aromatics Complex, as well as PETRONAS second refinery complex expansion in Melaka that includes base oil and COGEN power plants. In 2008, as the Plant Manager at the PETRONAS’s refinery facility in Melaka, Sazali led the team to achieve top quartile plant performance on Solomon Benchmarking. In 2012, he was appointed MD/CEO of the refinery. Sazali graduated with a BSc. Chemical Engineering from Lamar University, Texas, USA (1989) and is a Chartered Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE). He completed a senior management programme at London Business School (2005) before attending the Advanced Management Programme at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (2014). He is also a member of the International Advisory Panel for the C-THRU research project, providing critical insight and guidance to drive C-THRU’s research ambitions in securing the sustainability of the petrochemical sector. Sazali sits on the board of PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad (PDB), PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad, and the Pengerang Petroleum refinery and petrochemicals companies, namely, PETRONAS Refinery and Petrochemical Corporation Sdn Bhd (PRPC) and PRefChem Sdn Bhd. Sazali was conferred the Darjah Mulia Seri Melaka award by Yang Dipertua Negeri Melaka, which carries the title Datuk (2015).
