Essar Oil appoints Manesh Maheswari as CEO of E&P business

Ruias-controlled Essar Oil has appointmented Manish Maheshwari as the new chief executive officer of the company's exploration and production business.

Essar Oil holds oil and gas exploration blocks overseas and in India. The company's exploration and production business mainly centres around its coal bed methane block at Raniganj in West Bengal. The block, currenly producing 300,000 standard cubic metres of gas per day (scmd) is spread over 500 square km.

In a press statement, the company said Maheshwari will be responsible for Essar Oil's entire exploration and production business, which includes 15 blocks and fields in various stages of exploration and production in India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Nigeria and Vietnam and two producing assets in India, namely Ratna/R-Series in Mumbai Offshore, and the Mehsana block in Gujarat, besides spearheading ramp-up at Raniganj.

Prior to joining Essar Oil, Maheshwari was the managing director of Hindustan Oil Exploration Co. Ltd, an oil and exploration company.

Maheshwari holds a Bachelor (Hons.) degree in chemical engineering and a Masters in business administration from Strathclyde University, UK. He has also served as investment manager in a Danish investment fund.