GlassPoint Solar, the global leader in solar enhanced oil recovery (EOR), announced the appointment of energy and investment expert, May Alzanki, as GlassPoint Kuwait’s Sales and Business Development Director. Alzanki will support the company’s expansion plans to help Kuwait sustainably develop its massive heavy oil resources with steam made from solar energy, rather than imported natural gas.

Alzanki joins GlassPoint Kuwait with more than fifteen years of experience within the energy and financial sectors. She most recently served as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Kuwait Energy plc (KE plc), an international E&P company, leading merger & acquisitions, business development activities as well as corporate planning and corporate affairs.

Previously, she served as Assistant Vice President Oil & Gas at the Kuwait Financial Center (Markaz), one of the leading financial institutions in Kuwait conducting the full range of investment banking activities. Alzanki was a director on Markaz Energy Fund with more than USD 175 million of capital investment across the whole energy value chain.

Commenting on her appointment, Alzanki said, “We are blessed with massive heavy oil reserves that give us the new capacity needed to meet our production targets. However, developing these fields will require a significant amount of diesel or imported gas to generate steam used in the production process. By using Kuwait’s abundant sunshine to produce steam, we can reduce our reliance on diesel and imported gas and develop these fields more economically and sustainably, independently.”

“I am proud to work for GlassPoint, an industry leader at the forefront of the energy convergence. Its solar steam solution for heavy oil production shows that renewable energy and hydrocarbons can work together to achieve Kuwait’s energy objectives,” Alzanki added.

Hussein Shehab, GlassPoint’s Kuwait Country Chairman welcomed Alzanki and expressed his confidence in her ability to lead the company’s sales and business development efforts. He said, “May brings years of experience in new business development and team building at some of Kuwait’s most esteemed energy organizations. She has both the technical knowledge and the strategic business expertise that make her the ideal candidate to grow GlassPoint’s presence in Kuwait. With her support, we will be able to strengthen relationships with our government stakeholders, financial institutions and strategic partners in order to accelerate solar EOR deployment in Kuwait.”

Alzanki started her career at Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) as a planning engineer, and also served in different roles including corporate planning and North Kuwait field development. She holds a master’s and bachelor’s degree from Kuwait University in petroleum engineering and completed leadership and project management training at Cornell University as part of the leadership development program in Kuwait.

GlassPoint established a direct business in Kuwait in early 2014 and appointed Hussain Shehab, a 30-year KOC veteran, to lead the company’s operations in the country. The company’s regional headquarters is in the Sultanate of Oman, where GlassPoint is partnering with Petroleum Development Oman to build one of the world’s largest solar plants. The Miraah project is being built on a heavy oilfield in south Oman, alongside an existing pilot that’s been operating successfully for nearly three years. Once complete, the project will exceed more than one gigawatt in peak thermal energy.

GlassPoint Kuwait is a wholly owned subsidiary of GlassPoint Solar, a U.S. company whose major shareholders include Royal Dutch Shell and State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), the largest sovereign wealth fund in Oman.