Pakistan State Oil Company Limited (PSO) has announced the appointment of Jawwad Ahmed Cheema as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for a three-year term, effective May 18, 2026, replacing interim CEO Abdus Sami.
The company’s board approved the decision at its meeting held on April 11, 2026, the OMC said in a notice to the bourse on Monday.
The development comes days after Syed Taha, the MD and CEO of PSO, was appointed chief executive of K-Electric (KE), the sole power utility of Karachi.
“Cheema is a distinguished C-suite executive with over 28 years of experience in the downstream energy sector, including nearly 20 years in corporate leadership across five countries spanning Asia-Pacific, Europe, and South Asia.
“His career covers the full downstream value chain; retail fuels, lubricants, storage infrastructure, supply chain management, strategy, and international portfolio management with a consistent thread of strategic transformation, business turnaround, and large-scale organisational change throughout,” read the notice.
Cheema has a 26-year tenure with Royal Dutch Shell, during which he rose from frontline retail operations in Pakistan to the most senior levels of Shell’s global leadership, progressing through Indonesia, Singapore, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
“As CEO of Shell Pakistan Limited, he steered one of Pakistan’s most prominent publicly listed energy companies through significant strategic and operational transformation in one of the region’s most complex energy markets,” read the notice.
Most recently, Cheema served as CEO of Karachi Hydrocarbon Terminal (KHT) under the VTTI B.V. portfolio, managing Pakistan’s primary petroleum import and distribution terminal at Port Qasim.
“Across various roles, Cheema has demonstrated a rare combination of commercial sharpness, strategic clarity, and operational discipline to execute at scale in complex, regulated, and sensitive energy environments.
“As Chairman of the Board of Shell Pakistan Limited and Director on the Boards of Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) and Pakistan Arab Pipeline Company (PAPCO), he has exercised governance authority over the most strategically significant nodes of Pakistan’s downstream infrastructure, a leader shaped by global standards and deeply rooted in Pakistan’s energy reality,” read the notice.
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