Azzan Moghrob Rashid Al Asmy, General Manager and Acting Group Managing Director, Hema Energy.
With the global economy increasingly becoming more unpredictable and volatile, there has been a rising emphasis on economic diversification and sustainability in the Middle East. Oman, with no exception, started its national In-Country Value program to achieve greater economic diversification, reduce reliance on oil and gas, and create meaningful opportunities for the Omani workforce and business community. This requires close collaboration between the private sector and the government. Hema Energy stood out as a company that is making a significant contribution and is fully committed to the vision of Oman.
Entrepreneur Gulf got the opportunity to speak with AzzanMoghrob Rashid Al Asmy, General Manager and Acting Group Managing Director at Hema Energy. We dived into the major areas of focus of the company and their roles in the economy of Oman. We also touched on Azzan’s personal journey and his perspectives on leadership and success.
A Multi-Sector Company with a Heavy Emphasis on Sustainability and Efficiency
Hema Energy is a group of 11 companies operating across five sectors which include consultancy, manufacturing, exploration of oil and gas, waste management, and green energy. Started in 2011 by a group of Omani engineers from Shell to provide solutions within water production and heavy oil, the company has now expanded to become a multi-sector player. This expansion was inspired by the vision of the late Sultan of Oman to diversify the country’s economy and focus more on green energy.
Today, green energy has become a major area of focus for the company. “We are working towards ‘a greener barrel of oil’ by making use of all the waste coming from oil which includes produced water and the flared gas,” says Azzan. The company is currently working on a gas recovery facility that will further address the issue of gas waste. In collaboration with the government and Energy Development Oman (EDO), the company is also exploring sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to meet the increasing market demand.
The manufacturing sector of the company produces flanges for water, oil, and gas lines. With plans to build more manufacturing facilities, this sector of the company has been further solidified with recent agreements to export flanges to Norway and Malaysia. It is also looking to expand its manufacturing branch to four key products: wellheads, tubing and casing, jack pumps, and sucker rods. All these efforts contribute to the vision of Oman by providing employment and improving economic output.
Another major focus of the company is introducing innovative technologies and best practices to improve efficiency in oil production and other industries in Oman. The company’s provision of vacuum-insulated tubing played a big role in increasing viscous oil production by 30% in Oman. Talking about the approach to implementing new solutions, Azzan says, “We do rigorous pilot testing for new technologies to ensure success; if a solution doesn’t work, we conduct further R&D.”
Partnership Based on Trust and Being Accountable
Azzan’s approach of “show rather than tell” which he developed observing his father when he was young holds an important place in the way he runs Hema. To ensure success, the company emphasizes heavily on R&D and conducting pilot testing before implementing a solution. In addition, building a relationship based on trust is at the core of the company. Remarking on this approach, Azzan says, “We believe that it is more sustainable if the partnership is based on trust. Therefore, instead of focusing on selling products, we focus on understanding the challenges of our clients, and then we come up with the most effective solutions.”
The extension of this is implementing a culture of learning to upgrade knowledge and keep up with the latest findings. Thus, the company maintains close relationships with universities and research institutions in Oman, China, and UK. The new concepts are then tested and experimented before implementing in the field.
Concerning the working culture of the company, Azzan says, “We are a task-oriented team rather than being hyper-vigilant about the working hours.” Rather than imposing many rules, the company takes accountability and trust as the basis for a good working culture. The employees are empowered to make their own decisions as much as possible by providing proper training, instruction, and guidance.
Azzan’s Journey and the Importance of Hard Work
Azzan comes from a family with a rich connection to the oil and gas industry. His grandfather, father, and four of his uncles were in the industry. This early exposure gave him a deeper understanding of the industry in terms of everyday operations and detecting inefficiencies. He was hugely inspired by his father who rose to leadership through hard work and dedication. The “lead by example and walk the talk” type of leadership of his father made a lasting impression on Azzan, which he continues to carry today. “In my career, there were a lot of sparks that shaped me, but without the first spark – my father’s inspiration – I wouldn’t be here,” acknowledges Azzan.
Advice has more validity when someone has gone through an experience that taught them the lessons. As someone who climbed the corporate ladder from the bottom, Azzan advice to young people is, “not to stay in the comfort zone. You will be amazed to see what you can do when you start moving. Take risks, as high reward comes with high risk.” At the same time having patience and not expecting quick wins right away, and taking failures as stepping stones are his endearing bits of advice.
He echoes the sentiment that success to a large extent is a result of sincere efforts and commitment when he says, “Showing up gives you 80% winning possibility, so show up, and make sure to put 120% efforts on whatever you do.”
While he encourages chasing one’s potential and hard work, he also acknowledges that this should not come at the cost of compromising what makes us human – empathy and concern for others. “We all go through personal issues and our performance may drop sometimes, so remember to handle people with empathy,” says Azzan. “And never forget to enjoy life while you make a living which means to treat yourself well and celebrate your wins,” he adds.
Expansion in Alignment with the In-Country Value vision of Oman
As its credibility solidifies, Hema aims to expand its capabilities and offerings to become the most comprehensive and trusted provider of innovative technologies in the Middle East. Keeping in mind, the In-Country Value vision of Oman, the company is also working with suppliers from China and India to open facilities in Oman. Capitalizing on the strategic location of Oman and the free trade agreements with other countries including the US and Singapore, Hema is fully committed to creating more economic opportunities in Oman. The company continues to utilize local vendors and workforce, as well as invest in training and internship programs for fresh graduates making valuable contributions to the economic diversification and sustainability vision of Oman.