Managing Director, MENA Energy Partners
Sirine Tajer – French-Tunisian – is Managing Director of MENA Energy Partners that she founded in 2011 and which specialises in strategic advisory and M&A focused on the energy sector. She is based in the Middle East since 17 years.
Prior to establishing MENA Energy Partners, Ms. Tajer worked in Europe and in the GCC for selected international financial institutions (including Société Générale, ABN AMRO Bank and HSBC), advising and supporting leading companies – notably National Oil Companies (NOCs) and Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) – in their acquisitions, equity and financing transactions in the energy sector.
As Head of Energy and Resources at ABN AMRO Dubai, she was part of the ABN team involved in the innovative US$2bn asset securitization for DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority), which received the Emerging Market Deal of the Year 2007 Award from International Securitization Review (ISR).
Previously, as Vice President covering the GCC Energy Sector at Société Générale, she worked on various landmark corporate and project financing transactions including the Qatari petrochemicals projects Qatofin and Q-Chem II; Qatari LNG Trains RasGas II/III; the Dolphin project in Abu Dhabi, UAE and the Ijarah facility for the ENOC refinery upgrade in the UAE.
Ms. Tajer holds a double Masters of Science (MS) in Petroleum Economics and Management from the Colorado School of Mines and the French Institute of Petroleum. She also has MS degrees in both International Projects Management from the leading Paris business school ESCP and in Economics and Finance from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Paris. Ms Tajer also benefited from Harvard Business School Leadership Program as part of ABN AMRO Middle East senior management.
MENA Energy Partners was awarded the “Best Energy Sector Consultancy Firm” by MEA Markets UAE Business Awards 2021 and “Best Sustainable Energy Advisory 2020 – MENA” by Acquisition International. Ms. Tajer was recognised as the “Most Inspiring Female Leader in Oil & Gas – MENA” in 2017 and the “Most Influential Businesswoman: Oil & Gas – Middle East” in 2016 by Acquisition International.
She is a member of selected organisations such as the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN), the Dubai Petroleum Club and the Dubai Business Women Group (DBWG) of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce. She was a Board Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) for UAE, Northern Emirates, from 2015 to 2017. Ms. Tajer is currently a Board Member of the Dubai Tunisian Business Council.
Ms. Tajer participates as a Speaker or Chairperson in several international conferences such as the Gulf Intelligence 2019 ADIPEC, 2016 UAE Energy Forum, the Tunisian Oil & Gas Summits (2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016) and the LNG Global Congress Asia Pacific in Singapore (2013). She also contributes to publications such as the Arabian Oil & Gas Magazine and MEED (Middle East Economic Digest). Ms. Tajer was acting as Judge for the MEED Oil & Gas Project Awards 2020 and 2021.