Arja Talakar has been appointed CEO of Siemens Oil & Gas, effective April 1, 2019. He will be based in Houston, Texas, the global headquarters for oil and gas and its parent operating company, Siemens Gas and Power.

Talakar brings to this position extensive leadership experience. Prior to taking this new role, he was responsible for Siemens Saudi Arabia, a market and area of the world very important to the oil and gas and power businesses. Together with his team, Talakar has developed close ties and strategic partnerships with leading global oil and gas, energy and petrochemicals companies, and has succeeded in securing and executing large infrastructure projects. His focus has also provided broad exposure to Siemens’ products, projects, solutions, and services.

Talakar began his career with Siemens in 1996 as a rotating equipment and automation systems engineer and has since held several roles of increasing responsibility across the globe. His 23 years of experience with Siemens provides valuable perspective to the power and oil and gas businesses as energy markets continue to evolve in this transitionary period.

Talakar will provide a luncheon keynote address at the 50th annual Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston on May 7. The title of his presentation is Fostering a Smarter Energy Transition – from Cleaner Hydrocarbons to Cost-competitive Renewables.

"The energy industry is transforming amidst a digital and technological revolution, which moves us toward evermore complex, multi-modal and decentralized systems," said Talakar. "Managing this complexity is the true challenge of shaping the new energy future requiring us to think and plan how we will, together with our customers, transform from today to tomorrow’s energy ecosystem," he added.