Peter Verhulst, Shell Global Solutions International Service Manager for Abu Dhabi, talks to Al Mahara about his life, his career with Shell and his ties with Abu Dhabi ….

I started my life in a very small village in the South of Holland and completed my secondary school education in a town called Zierikzee. The Delft Technical University not only served to give me my MSc in Chemical Engineering but also introduced me to my wife, Irma, who was studying Biochemical Technology. My first job with Shell was in 1977 as a process engineer at the Pernis refinery. My first overseas posting came in 1984 when Irma and I moved to Al Jubail on the east coast of Saudi Arabia with our then 8 month-old daughter, Anouk. We stayed in Saudi Arabia for 5 years where my final appointment was as Economics and Planning manager. During those years, our family was extended with the birth of our second daughter, Renée, and our son Michel. Our second overseas assignment followed immediately when I was posted to Mombasa, Kenya as Technology Manager at the Kenya Petroleum Ltd Refinery.

This was a fantastic experience for our family although life had its ups and downs. Shortages of electricity and water and the constant threat of malaria and other diseases were balanced by the joy of visiting the many beautiful game parks and the warmth of the local people. We stayed in Kenya for four years and east Africa still has a very special place in our hearts. We returned to Holland in 1993 where I took up the position of Gas Treating Business Group Manager in Shell’s Central Office in The Hague. My first visit to Abu Dhabi came in 1995, when I was posted to assist with the start-up of the new amine facilities at GASCO Ruwais. In March 2000, I was appointed as Service Manager for Abu Dhabi, Canada and the UK, and have been involved with service provision to the ADNOC group of companies ever since. I visit Abu Dhabi regularly, sometimes twice a month.

Our daughters are both studying for medical degrees, with Anouk in her final year of Medicine and Renée in her third year as a Dentistry student. Michel is following in his father’s footsteps, studying Electrical Engineering at Delft University.

With the children away at university, my wife is now free to accompany me occasionally on my trips to Abu Dhabi to see for herself what a fantastic place Abu Dhabi is.