Gastech 2026 • People • Middle East

The reputation business behind the energy business

The Stratawire met Dubai-based Kekst CNC partner Ben Curson at Gastech. His work sits in a part of the energy economy that rarely appears on a process diagram: what companies say, who they say it to and how they protect trust when the stakes are high.

By The Stratawire • Bangkok • 15 September 2026

Ben Curson, Partner at Kekst CNC. Photo: Kekst CNC

The energy industry is built on physical things: platforms, pipelines, terminals, ships, grids, turbines and the capital required to build them.

But major projects and corporate decisions also depend on something less visible. Reputation.

That is the world Ben Curson works in. Curson is a Partner at global strategic communications consultancy Kekst CNC, based in Dubai and leading the firm’s Middle East operation. The Stratawire met him at Gastech 2026 in Bangkok, where the sheer concentration of companies, governments, investors and advisers makes one thing obvious: the energy business is also a communications business.

Twenty-five years in high-stakes communications

Kekst CNC says Curson has 25 years of experience across corporate affairs, financial communications, crisis and reputation management. His work has included advising senior and board-level executives across sectors including energy, utilities, financial services, technology, professional services, industrials and real estate.

His route into the profession is notable. Curson began as a broadcast journalist before moving in-house and then into consultancy, later holding senior roles at Penrose Financial, H+K Strategies and Instinctif Partners before joining Kekst CNC.

That background matters in an industry where the same event can look completely different depending on who is watching. Investors may see financial exposure. Regulators may see compliance. Employees may see uncertainty. Customers may see reliability. Journalists may see a public-interest story. A communications adviser has to understand all of them at once.

What Kekst CNC actually does

Kekst CNC is part of Publicis Groupe and operates as a global strategic communications consultancy. Its work covers corporate positioning, financial communications, mergers and acquisitions, crisis preparedness and response, cybersecurity communications, litigation and regulatory issues, investor relations, internal communications and reputation management.

In practical terms, that puts the firm alongside companies during moments when getting the message wrong can have financial, political or operational consequences.

Curson’s own experience includes corporate reputation and positioning, crisis management, cybersecurity and mergers and acquisitions. Kekst CNC says he has advised companies involved in some of the largest transactions in the Middle East and worked with investors acquiring majority stakes in significant infrastructure projects.

Broadcast and media activity at Gastech 2026 in Bangkok — Gastech is not only an engineering exhibition. It is also a global communications environment, with companies competing for attention, credibility and influence.

Why the Middle East matters

Kekst CNC has operated in the Middle East for years, with a long-established Dubai presence and an office in Riyadh. The firm opened its first Saudi office in 2024, describing the move as part of its continued expansion in a market shaped by economic diversification, investment and large-scale transformation.

For a consultancy working on corporate reputation, transactions and crisis preparedness, the Gulf is an unusually active environment. Energy companies sit alongside sovereign investors, infrastructure developers, technology businesses and governments pursuing major economic programmes. Their communications needs increasingly cross borders, sectors and stakeholder groups.

That is one reason a meeting with a communications adviser at Gastech belongs in an energy publication. The work is not separate from the industry. It sits around the decisions that move capital, shape public confidence and determine how companies explain themselves when conditions change.

The story behind the story

Gastech is full of visible technology, but some of the most important work around the exhibition is harder to photograph. It happens in meeting rooms, interviews, investor conversations, crisis plans and the decisions made before a company says anything publicly at all.

Curson and Kekst CNC operate in that layer.

For The Stratawire, it is another reminder that understanding the energy economy means looking beyond equipment and projects. It means looking at the people who shape how those projects are understood, financed, defended and trusted.

The Stratawire is reporting from Gastech 2026 in Bangkok.

Sources: Kekst CNC corporate and Ben Curson profile information; Kekst CNC Middle East and Saudi Arabia announcements; The Stratawire reporting at Gastech 2026.