Leadership team

Bas Verkooijen

Chief Executive Officer

With 25 years of experience in the energy industry, Bas has led businesses in over 25 countries. As the CEO of Advario, Bas is passionate about building a new, world-class organisation that develops better business through successful partnerships and acts as a frontrunner in the energy transition.

Prior to joining Advario, Bas worked at OMV. In his role as the Senior Vice President Product Supply & Sales and member of the OMV Downstream leadership team, he was responsible for the group’s supply, logistics and commercial sales of refined products as well as petrochemicals. Bas started his career at Shell where he led various downstream businesses in Europe, Russia, Middle East, Asia and Oceania.

Bas holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

Sophie Challet

Chief Financial Officer

With 27 years of experience in multinational companies across the Oil & Gas, Water, Waste, Electricity, and Transport industries, Sophie Challet is a highly experienced finance executive overseeing Advario’s global finances. Her responsibilities encompass Treasury, Accounting, Controlling, Tax, Audit, IT, and Security, ensuring comprehensive financial management and strategic oversight.

Sophie has lived and worked in many countries, including Monaco, China, Hong Kong, UK, USA, Equatorial Guinea, Qatar, and the UAE. Prior to joining Advario, Sophie was CFO Middle East for Egis, a French engineering and project management organisation. She has also held various senior finance and audit positions in companies such as SBM Offshore, Alstom Grid, Suez Group, Europcar & Deloitte.

Sophie holds a master in Economics and Business administration from Audencia Business School in France.

Douglas van der Wiel

Chief Commercial Officer

As Chief Commercial Officer, Douglas van der Wiel leads initiatives in Business Development, Deal Execution, Government Affairs, Market Analysis, and Commercial Excellence. Douglas started his career at Oiltanking as Business Development Manager in Singapore in 2001. After more than five years in the region, he was transferred to Oman as Commercial Manager for Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals & Co.

In August 2009, Douglas took on the challenge as Chief Executive Officer of the joint venture between Star Energy and Oiltanking in Dubai. In August 2013, he transferred back to Singapore to take up the position of Vice President Commercial, Oiltanking Asia Pacific for a year, after which he was appointed President, Oiltanking Asia Pacific. In 2020, he transferred to the Netherlands as regional Senior Vice President at Oiltanking, responsible for the EMEA region.

Douglas holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Snehashish Chatterjee

Chief Projects & Safety Officer

Snehashish – known to many in the industry as Chatto – Chatterjee has been with Advario and its predecessor Oiltanking for a quarter of a century, starting his career as a trainee engineer in India. In the years that followed, Chatto has held a variety of roles, across a variety of countries.

He has been instrumental in building the team and terminal in Oman, led projects in Indonesia, before spending years as Vice President of our Southeast Asia cluster. In 2023, he moved into the Vice President Commercial role, located in our Rotterdam HQ.

Because of his experience in engineering, project execution and commercial roles across geographies that are crucial to the Advario portfolio, his long tenure in Advario, and his pleasant and warm personality, Chatto is the perfect person for the CPSO role.

As CPSO, Snehashish is responsible for the safe and timely execution of Advario’s projects, across our global portfolio. He also drives excellence across Engineering, Procurement, and HSSE (Health, Safety, Security, and Environment) standards and programs.

Joke Nijhoff

Chief People Officer

As Chief People Officer, Joke harnesses her expertise in People, Culture, Communication, and Transformation to unlock the full potential of highly engaged and empowered employees. Her passion for people and proven success in managing complex stakeholder projects bring a wealth of experience to the Advario leadership team.

Prior to joining Advario, Joke worked in Human Resources in several diverse, internationally operating companies. That includes several roles within the Dutch multinational FrieslandCampina, a company that produces dairy products for both consumers and the professional market. At FrieslandCampina, which has distribution facilities and commercial branches in 32 countries, Joke was ultimately responsible for the People function of a business sector with over 3500 employees and annual revenues exceeding 3 billion euros. Furthermore, she led the global supply chain capability and organizational review for 15,000 employees. Her next position was Chief Human Resources Director for Rabobank’s Retail Banking sector in the Netherlands, before ultimately deciding to join Advario.

Joke holds a master’s degree in Culture, Organization and Management from the Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Giovanni Funel

Chief Terminal Operations Officer

As Chief Terminal Operations Officer, Giovanni Funel focuses on driving operational excellence and sustainability across Advario’s global terminals. With over 30 years of experience in operations, engineering, manufacturing, and customer service across various industries, Giovanni has successfully led initiatives in operational excellence and continuous improvement worldwide.

He has directed operations, business growth, and organizational integration across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Giovanni’s extensive expertise, coupled with his passion for leadership and sustainability, positions him perfectly to drive the success of our Horizon 2030 program as part of the Advario Leadership Team. Giovanni works closely with our global terminals to push excellence and growth, ensuring effective coordination between our terminals and headquarters.

Giovanni holds a Master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Naples Federico II in Italy.