International Oil & Commodities
Your Partner of Choice
Ainstar
We are a global trading organisation, specialising in the natural resources sector with a focus on oil, gas, metals, and minerals. The business has evolved from our roots in London and Europe into a global business engaged in trade for Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
With over 30 years of experience in over 40 countries, Ainstar’s team are a highly skilled group of experts, who provide the strategic and operational considerations necessary to deliver solutions while understanding and taking account of practical local issues. Based on this depth of knowledge and real-world experience we can look to the future.
Values
As commerce and trade has become ever more global the United Arab Emirates has become our home. However, we have not changed our core values they continue to reflect the professional background of our people our ongoing commitments to clients and our responsibilities to the environments in which we operate.
Responsible
Professional
Respectful
Inclusive
Our Team
Colin Bannerman
Chief Executive Officer & Shareholder
Serge Shoueiri
Chief Financial Officer & Shareholder
Ivan Shoueiri
Country Manager & Shareholder
Naseh Ahmed
Chief Compliance Officer
Ainstar is an entrepreneurial company with strong client values. We are proud to have worked with industry-leading businesses and equally delighted to have made friends in local clients.
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Colin Bannerman
Chief Executive Officer & Shareholder — Ainstar
Colin Bannerman is a highly accomplished and versatile leader with extensive experience in the global commodities market. His expertise spans the oil & gas, energy, minerals, and infrastructure sectors, encompassing upstream, midstream, and downstream activities, working with oil and energy majors. He possesses a strong operational background with proven success in diverse regions, including the UK, Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Venezuela, Russia, the Middle East, and Australia.
His career includes senior leadership positions with oil majors Chevron and Texaco, and advisory and consulting support to prominent clients such as The Carlyle Group, UBS, First Reserve, Shell, and Dragon Oil. He also served as CEO of a multi-billion-dollar commodities trading business in London, and is currently CEO of an international commodities business based in Dubai.
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Serge Shoueiri
Chief Financial Officer & Shareholder
Serge Shoueiri is an international finance executive with more than 25 years of experience across banking, investment, compliance, and cross-border financial markets. A graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., with a degree in Economics, he has built a career spanning the United States, United Kingdom, Middle East, Africa, and emerging markets, developing a strong understanding of complex international financial and commercial environments. His experience encompasses banking, financial management, compliance, investment structures, and international transactions, with significant exposure to frontier markets.
As Chief Financial Officer of Ainstar, Serge oversees the Group's financial strategy and provides senior financial and strategic guidance to its international activities. He also serves as Vice President of Mayfield Group LLP, a family office based in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), and brings a broad global network across financial institutions, investors, family offices, and corporations.
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Ivan Shoueiri
Country Manager & Shareholder — Ainstar FZ-LLC
Ivan Shoueiri is Country Manager and a shareholder of Ainstar FZ-LLC, leading the Group's activities and strategic development in Venezuela. A graduate in Geology and Mining Engineering, with studies at American University in Washington, D.C. and West Virginia University, he began his career in Venezuela in 1992. Over more than three decades, he has built extensive experience across the natural resources, mining, energy, infrastructure, and industrial sectors, combining technical expertise with business development, project origination, and the structuring of complex commercial opportunities.
As Ainstar's senior executive on the ground, Ivan identifies and develops strategic opportunities, builds institutional and commercial partnerships, and coordinates projects from origination through structuring and execution. His long-standing presence and broad network across the public and private sectors give Ainstar experienced shareholder-level leadership in one of its key markets.
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Naseh Ahmed
Chief Compliance Officer
As Chief Compliance Officer, Naseh Ahmed leads the company's compliance, governance, and risk management framework across its oil and commodities trading activities. With a strong focus on regulatory integrity and responsible business practices, he works closely with senior management, trading teams, counterparties, and external stakeholders to ensure the company operates in line with applicable laws, regulations, and industry standards.
In the dynamic global commodities market, he maintains robust controls across areas such as anti-money laundering, sanctions and trade controls, KYC and counterparty due diligence, anti-bribery and corruption, market conduct, and regulatory reporting. Through a practical, risk-based approach, Naseh strengthens the company's commitment to transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct, supporting sustainable growth and long-term client relationships.