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Nitrogen+Syngas 382 Mar-Apr 2023

31 March 2023

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BASF has announced some changes to its leadership team. The company has appointed Dr. Stephan Kothrade, President, Intermediates, as a member of the board of executive directors from March 1st, 2023. Stephan Kothrade has been with BASF since 1995 and has led BASF’s Intermediates division since 2022. Dr. Kurt Bock, Chairman of the Supervisory Board said: “Stephan Kothrade has proven himself in several leadership roles in Germany and abroad. He has worked successfully for many years at our Verbund sites in Europe and Asia and will complement the Board of Executive Directors in an excellent way.” Kothrade succeeds Saori Dubourg, who left the company as from February 28, 2023, by mutual agreement. The board thanked Dubourg for her successful work and wished her all the best for her future career.

Christian-Matthias Jutzi, previously Senior Vice President, Mobile Emissions Catalysts will assume responsibility for the Corporate Finance Division in Ludwigshafen, Germany, from May 1st, 2023. He succeeds Dr. Dirk Elvermann, who was appointed as the new Chief Financial Officer and Chief Digital Officer by the Board in October last year. Finally, Ralph Schweens will retire effective March 31st, 2023. He will be succeeded by Dr. Mary Kurian, Senior Vice President, Petrochemicals North America, BASF Corporation, Houston, Texas. She will assume responsibility for the Care Chemicals global operating division at Ludwigshafen from April 1st, 2023.

In the United States, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has announced that Neil Caskey, a long-time professional in the agricultural arena, will be the organisation’s next CEO. Caskey has served as NCGA’s vice president of communications and industry relations for over four years and spent over a decade promoting agricultural issues as executive vice president at OBP Agency, an advertising and public relations firm. His professional background also includes work for the American Soybean Association and as a legislative aide for a US member of Congress.

Methanex’s new president and CEO Rich Sumner has made some changes to the company’s leadership as January 2023. Dean Richardson, previously Vice President, Corporate Finance, has been appointed as Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer, from February 1st, 2023. Richardson has worked closely with Ian Cameron, retiring Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer for over a decade, in a variety of progressively senior and strategic finance roles.

Kevin Maloney, Vice President, Corporate Development, has been appointed as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development. Vanessa James will step down from her role as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Sustainability and will support the transition through Q1 2023. Maloney was the Geismar 3 project business owner and is well equipped to take over executive leadership of G3, Methanex’s new project in Louisiana which is expected to produce methanol in Q4 2023.

Gustavo Parra, Vice President, Manufacturing Strategy and Planning, has been appointed as Senior Vice President, Manufacturing, replacing Kevin Henderson, who retires as Senior Vice President, Manufacturing. Karine Delbarre, Vice President, North America Marketing & Logistics, has been appointed as Senior Vice President, Global Marketing & Logistics, filling the vacancy left by Rich Sumner following his appointment as President and CEO.

Jesús Enrique Mora Marín has been appointed as CEO of the Brunei Methanol Company, responsible for the management control and direction of day-to-day activities of the company in accordance with the Board of Director. Mora majored in chemical engineering at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, and served for many years with Metanol de Oriente, SA (Metor) in Venezuela, from which he retired in 2017.

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Worley has announced that Tiernan O’Rourke will step down as the company’s Chief Financial Officer effective from 30 June 2025. O’Rourke is retiring from full-time work after a long and successful career culminating in nearly four years of dedicated service to Worley, though he intends to take on advisory and consulting activities in the private sector. Worley’s Chief Executive Officer, Chris Ashton, said: “It’s been an absolute pleasure to work alongside Tiernan since he joined the Worley team and see his decades of experience benefit the business in areas such as capital management, financial process improvements and talent development to name a few. I wish him well as he transitions away from the CFO role.”

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BASF Corporation has appointed Heather Remley as its new president and chief executive officer, effective April 1, 2025. She takes the helm of the North American arm of BASF SE, one of the world’s largest chemical companies. Remley has a background in global leadership and operations. Most recently, she was president of BASF’s global engineering services division in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Before that, she led the company’s North American petrochemicals business as senior vice president in Houston. Since joining BASF in 2016, she has held key positions across the US, China, and Germany.