Business Desk 
Apr 13, 2026
Pakistan State Oil Company Limited (PSO) on Monday formally notified the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) about the appointment of Jawwad Ahmed Cheema as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for a three-year term, effective 18 May 2026. Cheema succeeds Abdus Sami, who serves as interim CEO.
Cheema brings over 28 years of experience in the downstream energy sector, including nearly two decades in corporate leadership roles spanning five countries across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and South Asia. His career includes 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 running through every assignment.
As Managing Director (MD) and CEO of Shell Pakistan Limited, he successfully steered one of the country's most prominent publicly listed energy companies through a period of significant strategic and operational transformation in one of the region's most complex and fast-evolving energy markets.
In subsequent international roles, Cheema served as Vice President (VP) of Strategy & Portfolio at Shell International B.V. in The Hague, where he directed global downstream infrastructure portfolio strategy across multiple continents, delivering significant enterprise value through network optimisation, asset rationalisation, and supply chain reconfiguration.
As VP of Shell Business Operations in Singapore, Cheema transformed Shell's global business process outsourcing function, driving large-scale workforce expansion and operational consolidation across a global network.
Cheema also served as Karachi Hydrocarbon Terminal (KHT) CEO, which is a strategic joint venture under the VTTI B.V. portfolio, managing Pakistan's primary petroleum import and distribution terminal at Port Qasim.
With a rare combination of commercial sharpness, strategic clarity, and the operational discipline to execute at scale in complex, regulated, and politically sensitive energy environments, Cheema stands as a leader shaped by the most rigorous global standards and deeply rooted in the realities of Pakistan's energy landscape.
