R. S. Butola to head IOC

R. S. Butola to head IOC




R. S. Butola

NEW DELHI: Managing Director of the State-run ONGC Videsh (OVL), Ranbir Singh Butola was on Wednesday selected to head Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), nation's largest refining and fuel marketing firm.

Official sources in the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry said the approval for Mr. Butola's appointment came from the Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) which interviewed six candidates and named Mr. Butola as its top choice for the IOC job.

The PESB has also approved the appointment of R. K. Singh for the post of Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. The matter will now go the Cabinet Committee on Appointments for approval.

Mr. Butola, 56, the man responsible for giving India a standing in the global oil scene with acquisitions such as Russia-focused Imperial Energy, oil and gas assets in Venezuela, the Russian asset of Sakhalin and the latest bid to buy BP stake in a Vietnam project, was the senior most in the race and a natural choice to head IOC.

Born on May 5, 1954, Mr. Butola joined ONGC in February 1991 as Deputy General Manager (F&A) and was appointed as Director (Finance) of OVL on November 15, 2002. He succeeded Atul Chandra as the Managing Director of the company on May 13, 2004. He holds a Master's in Business Management with specialisation in Finance.

The post of IOC chairman fell vacant after the government declined an extension of service to Sarthak Behuria till his superannuation age of 60 in 2012.

………..by…..Special Correspondent …..from the pages of THE HINDU newspaper.