Sapura Energy Berhad announced that its President and Group CEO Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin is retiring today, after leading the Group for more than 25 years. Tan Sri Shahril will be succeeded by Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib, who takes over the helm as Sapura Energy Group Chief Executive Officer beginning 23 March 2021.
Sapura Energy’s succession plan was announced last year, ahead of Tan Sri Shahril
reaching the retirement age of 60 on 22 March 2021.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, we wish to record our gratitude to Tan Sri Shahril,
whose vision and determination turned Sapura Energy into a Malaysian multinational
company capable of competing and winning on the global stage”, said Chairman Tan Sri
Shamsul Azhar Abbas. “His leadership enabled Sapura Energy to grow from a domestic
focused player into a renowned energy company serving the entire upstream value chain; and his foresight set the foundation for the Group to progress beyond oil and gas into renewables”.
Tan Sri Shahril founded Sapura Energy in the mid 90’s, building the Group from its humble beginnings as a diving contractor, into the global integrated energy company that it is today.
His legacy includes Sapura Energy’s wide range of technical capabilities and strategic
assets in drilling, engineering and construction, exploration and production, and more
recently, offshore windfarm construction.
The Group has presence in more than 20 countries, with an international workforce of more than 11,000 people representing 37 nationalities, working and collaborating in twelve operating centers across the globe. Malaysians make up about 86 percent of its talent pool.
The Group contributed about RM89 billion to the Malaysian economy over the last five years, with more than RM15 billion worth of work awarded to Malaysian vendors. In the last three years, Sapura Energy repatriated home more than USD2 billion in foreign currencies.
In a farewell note, Tan Sri Shahril paid tribute to the people of Sapura Energy, whose
tenacity resulted in the Group’s resilience, he said. “We have seen a profitable turnaround in 2020 despite the challenging environment for the industry and the false narratives of a fickle market”, he wrote.
Tan Sri Shahril called on employees to work hard in sustaining profitability for the Group and its shareholders. “Permodalan Nasional Berhad holds the biggest stake in Sapura Energy, which means our ultimate owners are the 14 million unitholders in the investment arm. These are ordinary Malaysians who have entrusted their savings to PNB”, he reminded. “We have a huge obligation, an amanah to protect and enhance the value of their investments”.
Urging employees to continue carrying the Sapura Energy flag under Datuk Mohd Anuar,
Tan Sri Shahril said his successor is deeply committed to deepening and cementing Sapura Energy’s position as a world-class technology powerhouse in the global energy industry. “He has the experience, caliber and mettle to bring Sapura Energy upwards in the next phase of our journey”, Tan Sri Shahril said, “It gives me great comfort to know that he has been wellreceived by the organization, and that he has been able to hit the ground running. This is a measure of both Datuk Anuar’s qualities, and the Sapura Energy values embedded within our people”.
Datuk Mohd Anuar, who joined Sapura Energy as an independent director in August 2020, was appointed Chief Operating Officer and CEO Designate in October 2020. His previous roles included Chairman of Shell Companies in Malaysia and PETRONAS Executive Vice President and CEO, Upstream. At the national oil company, he was instrumental in improving the delivery of capital projects, reduction in operating costs and the set-up of the successful low-cost and marginal field subsidiary Vestigo Petroleum.
Datuk Mohd Anuar began his oil and gas career with Sarawak Shell Berhad in 1990, after
completing his Bachelor of Science in Engineering (Mechanical) from Case Western
Reserve University, in the United States. Datuk Mohd Anuar also holds a Masters of
Business Administration degree in International Management from the RMIT University,
Australia.
