Mustali Sarkar’s career with the world’s largest non-government energy company has taken him to Qatar – the world’s biggest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Since graduating from Imperial College with a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2011, Mustali (OE 2000-2007) has spent six years working for ExxonMobil. He is currently based in Doha, capital city of Qatar. “In March 2016, I secured a competitive expatriate assignment here and I am working as a senior analyst to develop a fully integrated supply chain to provide LNG to Pakistan in order to meet their growing energy needs.”
Since starting work in ExxonMobil’s London office and European headquarters, Mustali has had five different roles within the company’s Upstream Commercial division, developing skills in analytics, operations and negotiating for the supply and trading business of natural gas in Europe, Russia and the Caspian regions.
“I hope to pursue a managerial career path with ExxonMobil and I have a keen interest in further foreign assignments,” says Mustali. “Completing an MBA to develop my wider business knowledge is a nearer-term goal.”
His desire to work abroad is of a piece with his avowed passion for visiting new places and meeting new people. “I have been fortunate enough to visit over 30 countries across four different continents. Recently, this has inclu ded the Netherlands, Turkey, Germany, the USA for work – and in the last year, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Dubai and Oman… for some time out!”
Even maintaining his very close friendships with six QE contemporaries – Khilan Shah, Priyesh Patel, Utsav Patel, Devan Mistry, Roheet Pindoria and Sanil Shah – has involved long-distance travel. “In the last two years, I was a best man at the first four boys’ weddings and travelled to Thailand and Poland for their stags,” says Mustali.
Mustali himself has been married for four years. His wife, Ummehani, graduated from Nottingham in 2012 with a Master’s in Pharmacy. In Doha, she is currently working at Weill Cornell Medical College.
He retains fond memories of QE: “In particular, I still remember we had unbeaten seasons in both the Rugby A and Cricket A teams in 2005. Many friendships were formed through playing sport.”
After going on from QE to Imperial, he was treasurer of the college’s Indian Society and helped lead the committee in organising the longest-running student show in the country, held at the West End Her Majesty’s Theatre, which raised more than £10,000 for charity.