Thamir Ghadhban

Thamir Ghadhban (left),prime minister Iyad Alawi (middle),Dura refinery general director Dathar Al khashab (right).

Thamir Ghadhban (right), U.S. Senator Barack Obama (left), Baghdad, July 2008.

Japanese Imperial Decorations Ceremony. Ambassador of Japan to Iraq Mr. Fumio Iwai (left), Prime Minister Haider of Iraq al-Abadi (mid right) & Mr. Thamir Ghadhban (right). May 2016.

Japanese Imperial Decorations ceremony. Mrs Ghadhban (left), Mr. Thamir Ghadhban (middle) and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (right). May 2016.

Thamir Ghadhban (Arabic: ثامر غضبان‎‎) (Karbala, 1945) is an Iraqi civil servant and politician. Thamir specialising in the oil industry since the early 1970s. After the war in 2003 he became Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Oil, ^[1][2][3] and in mid of the following year he served as Interim Oil Minister in the interim government headed by interim prime minister Iyad Allawi.^[4] In 2005 he became a Parliament member and the head of one of the six committees, his committee was in charge of writing chapter four: Powers of the Federal Authorities in the permanent constitution^[5] Constitution of Iraq#Chapter Four: Powers of the Federal Authorities and one of three technocrats to draft Iraq's much debated oil law, which is still waiting to be approved by the parliament.^[6] In late April 2006, there was strong speculation that he would again be appointed Minister of Oil, this time by the government of Nuri al-Maliki.^[7] In 2012 he was nominated by Iraq to be secretary-general of OPEC.^[8] Up until early 2016 he served as the Chairman of the prime minister's advisors committee.^[9] In April 2016 he was awarded the Japanese Imperial Decorations the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star from His Imperial Majesty Akihito of Japan, in recognition of his contribution to developing economic relations and promoting mutual understanding between Japan and Iraq.^[10]

Education

BSc. in geology from University College, London, in 1970 and MSc. in petroleum reservoir engineering from Imperial College, London, in 1973.

Professional career

- Joined Basrah Petroleum Company (BPC) in 1973 and moved to Iraq National Oil Company (INOC) in 1989.
- At BPC worked in petroleum and reservoir engineering on oil fields in the south of the country, and then became head of the Petroleum and Reservoir Engineering department for several years until 1989.
- 1989-90: Director General of Reservoir and Field Development at the Iraqi Oil Ministry.
- 1991-92: Director General of Planning and Studies at the Oil Ministry.
- 1993-2001: Technical advisor to the Oil Ministry. During this period, ran numerous specialist committees responsible for conducting studies and producing plans, as well as committees negotiating with international oil companies for oil development or other projects.
- 2002-April 2003: Director General of Planning at the Oil Ministry.
- From 3 May 2003: Chief Executive Officer of the Oil Ministry.
- June 2004-May 2005: Minister of Petroleum.
- 30 January 2005: Elected to the National Assembly.
- 2008 - 2016 Chairman of a committee that advises the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mr. Nouri al-Maliki and his successor Dr. Haider al-Abadi.

Studies and reports

Author or co-author of more than 50 studies, reports or technical papers, as well as numerous papers and presentations on different aspects of the Iraqi oil industry delivered on the occasion of international oil and gas conferences.
In 2000 OAPEC granted Thamir Abbas Ghadhban its Distinguished Science Award.

References