Mr. Panicker will continue in his current roles as refinery director and chief, and will take up his new role from Oct. 3, said the company, which praised Mr. Fountain’s management during his five years there. job.
Fountain said in the statement that he was “deeply proud of what Nayara has achieved”, adding that it was “a good time to hand over to a new leader”.
Nayara has been operating in a difficult environment since Western sanctions were imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February.
Rosneft owns around 49% of Nayara, while Kesani Enterprises Co Ltd, a consortium led by Trafigura Group and Russia’s UCP Investment Group, owns 49.13%.
Nayara was not sanctioned as part of the international response to what Russia calls “special military action” in Ukraine, but Rosneft was, and many oil traders and banks around the world stopped dealing with Indian society because of concerns about the sanctions.
Nayara Energy operates the 400,000 barrel-per-day capacity Vadinar refinery in the western state of Gujarat.