ONGC gets Director for Production as board revamp kicks in

India’s top oil and gas producer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) now has a director for production after two directorships were merged as part of a larger board revamp aimed at breathing fresh life into the state-owned behemoth.

The post of Director (Production) has been created after merging Director (Onshore), who is in charge of all oil and gas fields located on land, and Director (Offshore) who looks after all offshore assets such as the prime Mumbai High fields.

Pankaj Kumar, Director (Offshore), will be the first Director (Production), ONGC said in a stock exchange filing.

Aiding the merger of the two posts was the retirement of Director (Onshore) Anurag Sharma on February 28.

ONGC in the filing said Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has through a letter dated February 28 “conveyed continuance of Pankaj Kumar, Director (offshore), in the newly created post of Director (Production), a post created after merger of the posts of Director (Onshore) and Director (Offshore), with effect from March 1, 2023 till the date of his superannuation i.e. June 30, 2026 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.”

Prior to this, the ONGC board had six directors for exploration, onshore operations, offshore operations, finance, human resources and technical and field services. It used to be headed by a chairman and managing director.

The government in December last year appointed Arun Kumar Singh, who had retired as head of oil refining and fuel marketing company BPCL, as the chairman of ONGC but not as its managing director.