Doha: Christophe de Margerie (pictured), the late chief executive of Total, who was tragically killed last year in a plane crash in Moscow, will be posthumously recognised with the 2015 Special Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah International Energy Awards on May 5.
The Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah Foundation for Energy & Sustainable Development bestows one Honorary Award each year for the “Advancement of International Energy Policy and Diplomacy” to an outstanding global energy industry leader, and the 2015 trophy will be presented to the late Total CEO’s wife, Bernadette de Margerie, at the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha. The late Rilwanu Lukman, the former Opec Secretary General and Energy Minister of Nigeria, was last year’s beneficiary of this award.
An astute maverick operative with a passion for geopolitical analysis, de Margerie was known to be very influential in helping shape the French government’s energy policy, according to Craig Stapleton, a former US ambassador to France through 2009. He was in general an outspoken critic of international sanctions and maintained active and open communication channels with many countries in an attempt to find solutions when political conduits were failing.
Known as Big Mustache among his colleagues for his signature handlebar moustache, de Margerie was on friendly terms with heads of state and national industry leaders from across the Middle East, a region he led for Total from 1995-99. “There is no doubt that Christophe de Margerie had a sharp technical intellect, but it was this skill combined with his celebration of the human side of business partnerships which not only allowed him to secure much commercial success in this region but to also make many lifelong friendships,” said H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, the former Energy Minister of Qatar.
The Peninsula
