The main changes targeted CEOs of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) and National Petrochemical Company (NPC).

Furthermore, three new Board members were replaced at NIOC whose CEO appointed a replacement to Bijan Alipour at the head of National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC).

Masoud Karbasian, New NIOC Chief

Masoud Karbasian took over from Ali Kardor at NIOC. In a letter appointing Karbasian, Zangeneh highlighted his experience at high economic and executive levels, saying: “I expect you to have constructive instruction with NIOC Board of Directors in implementing projects and carrying out the significant obligations assigned to NIOC particularly in the conditions of sanctions."

Before being appointed to this post, Karbasian was minister of economy and finance. He served in other posts like head of Iran Customs Administration, deputy minister of petroleum for commercial affairs, deputy minister of commerce for foreign commerce, deputy minister of commerce for planning and deputy minister of heavy industries.

Karbasian has pledged to put into practice options of countering international sanctions as long as he would be in the post.

"In this regard, certain policies have been made at the level of Ministry of Petroleum, the government and the Islamic Republic. Their implementation would help blunt the unfavorable impact of sanctions," he said.

New NIOC Board Members

NIOC Deputy CEO for Engineering and Development Gholam-Reza Manouchehri and director of Petroleum Ministry's debt collection committee Ali Asghar Hendi also bowed out as Board members due to retirement. They were replaced by Saeed Khoshroo and Zahra Goudarzi as NIOC Board Members.

Zahra Goudarzi is the first Iranian woman to be named NIOC Board member. She has studied international trade and petroleum law from two Iranian and a Scottish university. She has already served as contracts and legal suits expert at the NIOC Directorate of Legal Affairs, member of Oil Contract Restructuring Committee and senior legal negotiator in upstream oil contracts.

Khoshroo, who is currently deputy head of NIOC for international affairs, has studied economy at the universities of Tehran and Isfahan. For more than 20 years, he has been engaged in various sectors of petroleum industry. He has been with the NIOC international affairs department for ten years now.

His most important positions so far include deputy head for marking petroleum products, director of petroleum products and gas condensate at NIOC office in China, gas condensate sales manager and petroleum products pricing director.

New NIGC Boss

Zangeneh also named Hassan Montazer Torbati as the new CEO of Iran's state-run gas firm NIGC. Torbati, a graduate of the Amir Kabir University of Technology, had earlier served as director of NIGC dispatching, director of NIGC consolidated planning and director of Iran Gas Engineering and Development Company.

He has underscored generation of wealth and expansion of gas supply as objectives of NIGC, saying: "Huge gas resources in the country, high-voltage lines and giant refineries alongside gas distribution companies prepare the ground for the production, transmission and distribution of natural gas in Iran."

New NPC Chief

Zangeneh also named Behzad Mohammadi as CEO of NPC, expressing hope for the materialization of the second jump in petrochemical production in Iran through use of financial resources available in the country and consulting experts in light of the abundance and diversity of petrochemical feedstock.

Other points highlighted in Zangeneh's letter of appointment for Mohammadi include increased exports and completion of petrochemical industry value chain by supporting balanced development between midstream and downstream petrochemical industries.  

Mohammadi has studied chemical engineering at the University of Shiraz. He earlier served as CEO of Oil Industries Engineering and Construction Company (OIEC), Oil Industries Commissioning and Operation Company (OICO), director of commissioning for SP9 and SP10 at OIEC and R&D manager of Farabi Petrochemical Company.

New Deputy Minister Named

Veteran oil manager Rokneddin Javadi, who was serving as deputy minister of petroleum for supervision on hydrocarbon resources, was replaced by Mohsen Paknejad.

In the letter of appointment for Paknejad, the focus is on the necessity of enhancing recovery from operating fields.

Paknejad is a graduate of Amir Kabir University of Technology. His previous positions include advisor to minister of petroleum, head of ministerial committee for supervision on fuel supply, director of gas fields development, director of supervision on oil products exports and technical inspection of Ministry of Petroleum, Board Member of the Iran Central Oil Fields Company (ICOFC), director of consolidated planning at NIOC, director-general of supervision on petroleum products exports at petroleum ministry and CEO of Iran Oil Commercial Company.

New NIOC Appointments

The new head of NIOC, Karbasian, appointed Ahmad Mohammadi at the head of NISOC.

In the letter of appointment for Mohammadi, Karbasian laid emphasis on such points as reviewing the structure and methods with a view to bringing about transparency, facilitating and accelerating accomplishment of tasks, creating opportunities for specialized and committed manpower, development of education for the staff at all levels, prioritizing development projects with a focus on jointly owned fields, attention to development of and maximum efficient recovery from oil and gas reservoirs, enhancing production capacity and output, retrofitting existing installations and making necessary arrangements for flexibility in production based on plans and obligations as well as crude oil export needs.

Karbasian also named Jahangir Pourhang as CEO of Arvandan Oil and Gas Production Company, stressing the need for the reconsideration of structure to handle 1 mb/d oil production, planning for maximum engagement of local manpower in Khuzestan Province and coordination with the Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC).  

Karbasian also named Abdollah Mousavi as the CEO of National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC), calling on him to make plans for boosting drilling efficiency and reducing waiting time, benefiting from knowledge-based companies and universities, applying modern drilling methods, supporting domestic manufacturing and upgrading domestic manufacturing in the drilling industry, particularly in HSP.

Courtesy of Iran Petroleum