Our Leaders

Seasoned oil and gas leaders and entrepreneurs with successful value creation track record.

Board of Directors

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Zainal Abidin Jalil
Managing Director

Zainal Abidin Jalil

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Ning Zhang
Non-Executive Director

Ning Zhang

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Paul Baltensperger
Chief Operating Officer

Paul Baltensperger

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Dato' Robert Fisher
Chairman

Dato' Robert Fisher

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Datuk Johar Che Mat
Non-Executive Director

Datuk Johar Che Mat

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Azhar Othman
Non-Executive Director

Azhar Othman

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Dato' Robert Fisher

Non-Executive Director

+45 years of experience in senior leadership positions, largely in ExxonMobil leading multi-functional oil and gas organisations in many locations, cultures and operating environments (Malaysia, USA and Saudi Arabia).

Previous roles include, Chairman and Managing Director of the ExxonMobil Subsidiaries in Malaysia, Executive Assistant to the Chairman, Exxon Corporation, Vice President, New Business Development, ExxonMobil Gas Marketing Company and Executive Vice President, Upstream in Core Venture 1, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Senior Advisor to Bain and Company, a management consultancy headquartered in Boston, USA.



Ning Zhang

Non-Executive Director

+25 years of O&G experience in reservoir engineering, production engineering and project management.

Previous roles include Head of Planning, Commercial and Risk Management and Asset Manager at Newfield Exploration UK and Malaysia.

Former CEO of Ping Petroleum UK.



Paul Baltensperger

Chief Operating Officer

+30 years of O&G experience in geophysics and geology.

Former Asset Manager of Newfield Malaysia.

Managed exploration and development projects in the Gulf of Mexico, South America and North Africa for Oryx Energy, Apache and Newfield.



Azhar Othman

Non-Executive Director

+30 years in various managerial and leadership roles in the field of finance and operation across various industries such as semiconductor, automotive, property, real estate and infrastructure, hotel and resort as well as education based locally and overseas

Former CFO of Proton Holdings Berhad (Automotive), UEM Sunrise Berhad (Property) and Johor Corporation Berhad (Real Estate and Infrastructure) and senior financial leadership position in multinational companies such as Motorola, On Semiconductor and Cypress

Group Chief Operating Officer of DNeX



Zainal Abidin Jalil

Managing Director

+35 years of experience in various managerial and leadership roles covering upstream oil and gas operations, independent power business and technology sector.

Former executive of ExxonMobil in upstream O&G, former CEO of Malakoff Corporation and former Group Managing Director of DNeX.



Datuk Johar Che Mat

Non-Executive Director

+30 years in the banking industry, notably in Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) where he last served as Chief Operating Officer of Maybank Group before retiring in 2010.

Former Board Member of Bank Pertanian Malaysia Berhad, Amanah Raya Group, Proton Holdings Berhad and several other public companies.

Chairman of MRNB Holdings Berhad, and Malaysia Re (Dubai) Ltd (Company) and Board of MBSB Bank Berhad, Independent Non-Executive Director of DNeX.



Ning Zhang

Chief Executive Officer

+25 years of O&G experience in reservoir engineering, production engineering and project management.

Previous roles include Head of Planning, Commercial and Risk Management and Asset Manager at Newfield Exploration UK and Malaysia.

Former CEO of Ping Petroleum UK.



Paul Baltensperger

Chief Operating Officer

+30 years of O&G experience in geophysics and geology.

Former Asset Manager of Newfield Malaysia.

Managed exploration and development projects in the Gulf of Mexico, South America and North Africa for Oryx Energy, Apache and Newfield.



Wai Peng Lai

Chief Commercial Officer

Ms. Lai has 15 years of industry experience in oil and gas exploration, downstream and petrochemical business.

Wai Peng has extensive experience in corporate finance, strategic capital management, mergers & acquisitions, transition management and has led E&P commercial evaluations, negotiations and set up of risked economic models.

She has also held roles in Anasuria Operating Company namely planning, budgeting, project investment evaluations, crude marketing & scheduling, hydrocarbon forecasting and hydrocarbon allocation. Wai Peng also played a key role in capital structure evaluations, financings and relationship management with bankers and investors.

She was part of the Anasuria cluster negotiation team with Shell and Exxon and led the HR, hydrocarbon accounting and commercial transition teams; resulting in the successful transfer of Operatorship to a new entrant in UK North Sea within 8 months.

Prior to joining Ping Petroleum, Wai Peng held a senior position in the management consulting practice of Accenture and has led corporate strategy, operational excellence and organizational transformation projects for major Oil and Gas companies in Malaysia, UK and Perth.

Wai Peng has a BSc (Honours) in Chemical Engineering from National University of Malaysia.



Richard Beattie

Financial Vice President &
Chief Executive Officer of AOC

Mr. Beattie has 17 years of industry experience in oil and gas exploration business; with significant experience in petroleum accounting, joint ventures, business planning, LEAN and process improvement.

Richard was formerly the Business Finance Manager of Dana Petroleum with financial responsibility for all Operated UK and African assets. He also held direct financial and commercial responsibility for Dana's Non Operated Business.

Prior to Dana, he spent 13 years with Hess Corporation and held various senior roles namely Country Finance, Planning and Commercial Manager (Denmark), Accounting and Business Performance Manager (Malaysia) and Business Performance Specialist (Houston).

Richard is a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CIMA Qualified) with a BA (Honors) in Business Studies from The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland.



Faiz Mohamed Kunju

Chief Technical Officer

Mr. Faiz has over 35 years of industry experience in the upstream oil and gas business with significant experience in project management and field development planning.

Faiz had a successful career at Exxonmobil, spanning over 30 years in various managerial and leadership roles - Project and Engineering Manager (Houston), Project Manager (Nigeria), Senior Development Planning Advisor and reorganization coordinator (Malaysia) and Engineering Manager (Iraq).

After Exxonmobil he served as Chief Executive Officer of OGPC Sdn Bhd. At OGPC he provided overall strategic and operational leadership during the transition period of the company moving from founder-owned to a subsidiary of a public listed company. He was also responsible in establishing strategies to diversify revenue streams and corporate restructuring during the transition phase.

Faiz has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Princeton University at New Jersey, USA



Calum Hunter

Petroleum Engineering Manager

Mr. Hunter is Ping Petroleum's Petroleum Engineering Manager and Asset Manager for the Avalon field. Calum brings broad experience in Petroleum Engineering, Project Management, Business Planning, M&A and and Joint Venture Management to the Ping team.

Prior to joining Ping, Calum led a number of barrel-chasing activities and decommissioning projects within the Shell UK portfolio, markedly improving the value of numerous late-life subsea assets. He was also Reserves Co-Coordinator for Shell UK & Ireland, with direct responsibility for the accurate reporting of Reserves and Resources from over 100 producing fields, discoveries and prospects.

Calum is a certified Petroleum Engineer with the SPE and has a MEng degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland.