Benoît Potier: Air Liquide Chairman & CEO

Frenchman Benoît Potier was born in 1957 and is a graduate of the prestigious École Centrale de Paris. In 1981 he joined Air Liquide as a Research  and Development engineer.  He became a Project Manager in the Engineering and Construction Division. Benoît was later named Vice-President of Energy and Development in the Large Industries business line. 

He continued his climb up the corporate ladder and was made Director of Strategy & Organization in 1993. The following year we became head  of the Chemicals, Metal & Steel,  Oil and Energy Markets.  In 1995 Air Liquide appointed him an Executive Vice-President with additional responsibilities over the Engineering & Construction Division and the Large Industries operations in Europe. 

In 1997 Benoît was named Senior Executive Vice-President  and was appointed to the Board of Directors in 2000. In November 2001 he became Chairman of the Management Board. 

Benoît reached the position the only a select few will every achieve, he was named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of L’Air Liquide SA in 2006. 

With more than 50,000 employees and over $20 billion in sales, Air Liquide SA is on of the largest publicly listed companies in the world. The company Benoît heads is headquartered in Paris, France and was founded on November 8, 1902, by George Claude and Paul Delorme. 

It supplies gases, technologies and services for the industry and health businesses. Air Liquide SA operates its business through three segments: Gas & Services, Engineering & Construction and Other Activities. 

The Gas & Services segment engages in the supply of gases, which is organized by geographical areas such as Europe, America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle-East and Africa. The Engineering & Construction segment designs, develops and builds industrial gas production plants for the Group and third parties. It also designs and manufactures plants in the traditional, renewable and alternative energy sectors. The Other Activities segment primarily operates its business through two businesses: Welding and Diving. 

David J. Lesar: Halliburton Chairman & CEO

David J. Lesar was born on May 30, 1953, in Madison, Wisconsin. He earned a bachelor of science and an MBA degree from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. A Certified Public Accountant Dave spend 16 years working with Arthur Andersen. He was a Partner at Arthur Andersen and served as Commercial Group Director of Arthur Andersen. Among the accounts he worked on was Halliburton, the energy giant. He would eventually join Halliburton.

He was an Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration for Halliburton Energy Services from December 1993 to June 1995. Dave was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Halliburton Company from June 1995 to June 1996. He was President in May 1997 and Chief Operating Officer from June 1997 to August 2000. 

Dave became the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Halliburton Company in August 2000. 

He serves as a Director of the America Petroleum Institute. Dave serves as a Member of the Advisory Board of The British-American Business Council. He also served as a Director of Lyondell Chemical Company since July 28, 2000, and served as an Independent Director of Agrium Inc. from May 12, 2010, to May 6, 2015. 

Publicly listed Halliburton was founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton and is based in Houston, Texas. The firm offers services and products to the energy industry related to the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas. It operates through two segments: Completion & Production and Drilling & Evaluation. 

The Completion & Production segment delivers  cementing, stimulation, intervention, pressure control, speciality chemicals, artificial lift, and completion services. This segment consists of Halliburton production enhancement, cementing, completion tools, boots & coots, multi-chem and artificial lift. 

The Drilling & Evaluation segment provides field and reservoir modeling, drilling, evaluation, and wellbore placement solutions that enable customers to model, measure, and optimize their well construction activities. This segment consists of Halliburton drill bits and services, wireline and perforating, as well as Halliburton consulting and project management. 

A company will sales in excess of $32 billion Dave leads a huge organization whose performance affect the lives and businesses of so many people. 

Zhou Jiping: PetroChina Company Chairman

Zhou Jiping was born in 1952 and of Han nationality. He earned a degree in Geology from the China University of Petroleum and holds a master’s degree in Marine Geologic Structure from the Nanhai Marine Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.  Zhou is a professor-level senior engineer with almost 40 years of working experience in China’s petrochemical industry.  

He was the Manager of the development department of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, Manager of the overseas department of the International Cooperation Bureau of the China National Petroleum Company, President of the China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation in Vanuatu, and President of the China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation in Papua New Guinea.

Zhou was appointed a Director of PetroChina in May 2004 and the Vice Chairman and President of the Company in May 2008. He was appointed President of CNPC in November 2011. Zhou was formally appointed as the Chairman and President of PetroChina and Chairman of CNPC in April 2013.

PetroChina is the largest oil and gas producer and distributor in China as well as one of the largest companies in the world in terms of revenue. CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) is the sole sponsor and controlling shareholder of PetroChina.