Majid Jafar

Majid Hamid Jafar
Majid Jafar addressing the Davos Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum
Alma mater	Eton College Cambridge University, London University (SOAS) Harvard Business School
Occupation	Energy sector
Organization	Crescent Petroleum

Majid Hamid Jafar (Arabic version جعفر حميد مجيد ), born in 1976, is a United Arab Emirates (UAE) businessman of Iraqi origin. He is the CEO of Crescent Petroleum,^[1] the Middle East's oldest private oil and gas company, headquartered in the UAE and with offices in the UK and internationally. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Crescent Group of Companies, which includes interests in the energy, transportation, logistics, private equity and real estate sectors. He also is the Managing Director of the Board of Dana Gas^[2] (PJSC), the first regional, private sector integrated natural gas company in the Middle East, in which Crescent Petroleum is the largest shareholder.

Together, Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas have invested over $1bn in the oil and gas sector in Iraq's Kurdistan region, producing over 340 million cubic feet of gas and 15,000 barrels of condensate per day, enabling almost continuous electricity in the main cities in Iraq's Kurdistan region.^[3]

Jafar is seen as a leading expert on Middle East oil and gas exploration and production,^[4] including the challenges facing production growth in Iraq^[5] and has been named as one of the 25 most powerful people in the Middle East oil and gas sector.^[6] He has also been a commentator on the oil and gas sector ^[7] and energy policy in the Gulf region ^[8] and has written on the economic challenges in the Arab World,^[9][10] the development of the UAE ^[11] and the geopolitics of oil and gas in the Caspian Region.^[12] In 2013 Jafar was elected Vice-Chairman of the Global Energy Initiative, the international NGO headquartered at UN Plaza in New York that is focused on sustainable development through tackling climate change and energy poverty across the world.^[13]

Previous to joining Crescent Petroleum and the Crescent Group of companies in 2004, Jafar spent several years working at Shell with Shell International’s Exploration & Production and Gas & Power Divisions in London.^[14]

Majid Jafar is actively involved in promoting the social and economic development of the Arab world and is seen as a thought leader in this respect.^[15] An advocate of tackling youth unemployment through investment in the region, Jafar is the Vice-Chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Youth Unemployment^[16] and the founder of the “Arab Stabilization Plan”, which focuses on job creation through critical infrastructure investments to achieve economic stability and prevent instability.^[17] Jafar is a regular commentator^[15] and has written a number of articles on social and economic issues affecting the Arab world, including in the Financial Times,^[18] and was named “Visionary of the Year” of the Year at the CEO Middle East Awards for his work to tackle youth unemployment in the region.^[19]

Personal life

Majid Jafar attended Eton College and graduated from Cambridge University (Churchill College) with Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Engineering (Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics). He also holds an MA (with Distinction) in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies(SOAS), and an MBA (with Distinction) from Harvard Business School, where he served as president of the Energy Club, Section Senator, and representative to the Harvard Graduate Council.^[20]

Majid Jafar is the eldest son of Hamid Jafar, founder of Crescent Petroleum and Chairman of the Crescent Group, and is a grandson of Dhia Jafar, a prominent politician and Cabinet Minister in the last decade of Iraq’s monarchy^[21] during the reign of King Faisal II until 1958.

Other

In addition to his professional commitments, Majid Jafar serves on the board of: the Global energy Initiative (as Vice-Chairman), the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED),^[22] the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce,^[23] the Sharjah Expo,^[23] the Iraq Energy Institute,^[23] the Iraqi-British Friendship Society^[24] and the New Leaders of the International Institute of Education (IIE).^[25] He is also an active member of the Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House) and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (ISIS) in London,^[26] the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO)^[27] and the Young Arab Leaders,^[22] and is an accredited Director of the Institute of Directors (IoD Mudara).^[28]

References