Petral names veteran employee as new CEO

State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina picked a veteran employee to replace Bambang Irianto as chief executive of its Singapore-based fuel trading arm Pertamina Energy Trading, or Petral, as part of an overhaul of the firm, The Jakarta Globe reported Wednesday.

Toto Nugroho, who has been working at the company for more than two decades, was named as the new head of Petral.

?He knows about Petral in detail,? Pertamina?s recently-appointed President Director Dwi Soetjipto, said on Tuesday, adding that Toto had served in the integrated supply chain, giving him sufficient knowledge and experience to successfully run Petral. Pertamina has not given a reason for Bambang?s dismissal.

Dwi said Toto has a good track record and he will officially lead Pertamina?s oil trading arm from Jan. 26.

Since taking office last October, President Joko Widodo has imposed major changes on the energy sector, including the dismissal of Pertamina?s board and an investigation into Petral to weed out what he calls the country?s ?oil mafia? that influences the trading of oil products to its advantage.

Pertamina has repositioned Petral as a true global oil trader, so that it may begin distributing oil internationally as well as domestically, Dwi said.

Petral?s main duties were to facilitate oil imports for Indonesia, but a recent probe conducted by Joko?s new energy reform team uncovered a slew of discrepancies in its operations. (*)