Petro sector to see leadership change this month

In March, the hydrocarbon sector is set for a new era, with a change of guard at the apex bureaucracy and and at the helm of major public sector undertakings Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL).

Saurabh Chandra took charge as the new petroleum secretary on Saturday, from Vivek Rae. A 1978 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre official, he was secretary at the department of industrial policy and promotion before this.

Meanwhile, history has been made at HPCL with Nishi Vasudeva becoming the first woman to reach the helm of a Navratna public sector firm, following the retirement of Subir Roy Choudhury.

After a controversy over the recommendation by petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily for extension of ONGC chairman Sudhir Vasudeva, his successor, D K Sarraf, who was managing director of ONGC Videsh, will now run the company.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) would also see a new head in June, with B Ashok, executive director in charge of retail sales, set to succeed R S Butola as chairman of the country's biggest refiner and fuel retailer. With elections to be announced in the first week of March, the sector is waiting for a change in political leadership.

“This will be a fresh start for the sector as a whole, as the 10th round of the New Exploration Licencing Policy is set to happen this year. More, we will have to see how the shale gas blocks awarded would gather pace into the developmental stage. In addition, more fields in our country would become viable with the new gas pricing formulae,” said Debashish Mishra, senior director, Deloitte India.

The government on Friday approved a 10 per cent stake sale in IOC to ONGC and Oil India Ltd at a discount of 10 per cent; 242.7 million shares would fetch about Rs 5,300 crore to the exchequer. Both companies would take five per cent each in IOC.