KARACHI: The government has confirmed Asim Murtaza Khan as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) from September 27, a company statement said on Wednesday.
Khan has been serving as the acting MD since May 12, 2011. He replaced Khalid Rahman, who was removed from the post on charges of poor performance and incompetence. Before his appointment as MD & CEO, Khan served as Deputy Managing Director of PPL. He started his career with the company in 1982 and worked on key positions, including general manager production and manager of the Sui Gas Field.
In a surprise move in April, Petroleum Minister Dr Asim Hussain removed all chiefs of the energy sector companies in Pakistan on the charges of poor performance. Former PPL chief Rahman was demoted to his previous post of deputy managing director. Rahman escaped sacking from the company because he remains its career employee. Rahman, who has a background in finance, was the first non-technical MD to lead the second-largest Exploration and Production Company of the country, which triggered sharp criticism on the ministry and resulted in discontent among many PPL employees, especially the ones affiliated with its core functions of exploration and production.
Asim Murtaza Khan is a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from NED University of Engineering and Technology. He did his Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, UK.
He has also attended several advanced technical and management training programmes and is an alumnus of the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, USA, the PPL statement said.
(The News Sep 29,2011)