March 2006, No. 39

Appointment

Managerial changes have finally reached the Ministry of Petroleum. The new minister of petroleum preferred to change managing directors of four subsidiary companies in a single day. Seyed Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh, however, kept his word about appointing directors from within the ministry.

Minister of Petroleum	Managing Director of NIOC	Managing Director of NIGC	Head of IIES

Gholamhossein Nozari has been appointed as managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). Some say that his name was on a 10-member list which was initially presented to Majlis Energy Commission as likely candidates for Ministry of Petroleum portfolio. He has already worked as managing director of the National Iranian Central Oil company. Gholamhossein Nozari was born in 1954 and holds a master’s degree in industrial management. He was deputy chairman of Majlis Energy Commission in the Fourth Majlis and was elected member of Majlis Development Commission in the Fifth Majlis. He has been member of the central council of the Islamic Republic Party (South Labor Branch), member of ad hoc Majlis committee on budget and chairman of assembly of Fars province deputies. Gholamhossein Nozari was in charge of air defense in southern Iranian regions during the Iran-Iraq war and played a great role in protecting oil installations. He also worked as head of security organizations of the National Iranian South Oil Company and was among founders of the Islamic Society of Oil Industry Staff. The work record of the new managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company also includes chairmanship of board of directors at North Drilling Company, chairman of board of directors of the National Iranian Drilling Company and member of board of directors of Petroleum Engineering and Development Company.

Managing Director of NPC	Deputy Minister for Management	Deputy Minister for  Int'l Affairs	Managing Director of NIORDC

Perhaps Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh was the best person to take the helm at National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) under present conditions. Of course, he was more willing to be reinstated at the National Petrochemical Company to reap the fruit of his efforts, but Hamaneh brought him to National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company to show that refining and distribution are among his priorities. Although, Nematzadeh needs no introduction after serving three terms as minister and spending eight years at the Ministry of Petroleum, it would suffice to say that he is a graduate of Polytechnic University of California and has passed industrial management courses at Berkeley University of the United States. He was first interviewed by martyred president, Mohammad Ali Rajaei, which led to his entry into the Iranian Cabinet. He was first appointed minister of labor and social affairs in 1980. A year later, he was appointed minister of industries and mines and was appointed deputy prime minister in 1981. In the interval between 1982 and 1985, Nematzadeh was appointed member of board of directors and deputy managing director of Iran Defense Industries Organization and was then appointed managing director of TAVANIR (Power Production and Transmission) Company. In 1990 and for the second time, he was appointed minister of industries in Hashemi’s Cabinet. He kept that post for seven years until Zanganeh invited him to join the Ministry of Petroleum and plan revolutionary changes in Iran’s petrochemical industry. Now he will be responsible for excessive growth in domestic consumption of gasoline and oil products.

When Akbar Torkan was managing director of Industries Development and Renovation Organization, Asghar Ebrahimi-Asl was his deputy for research, planning, and technology development. When Torkan went to Ministry of Petroleum, Ebrahimi was appointed client of phases 4 and 5 of South Pars gas field’s development plan. He has not replaced Nematzadeh at the new building of the National Petrochemical Company through official action of Hamaneh. Ebrahimi was governor of Ahvaz, Dasht-e Azadegan, and Khorramshahr in 1979 and was appointed governor general of Ilam province and representative of Supreme Defense council from 1979 to 1981. Afterwards, he was introduced as governor general of West Azarbaijan province and then went to Ministry of Petroleum in 1982 to work for three years as member of board of directors of the National Iranian Oil Company and managing director of the National Iranian Offshore Oil Company. However, he left Ministry of Petroleum in 1985 and was chairman of board of directors and managing director of Tehran Regional Water Organization up to 1987. He was appointed deputy managing director of Iran Defense Industries Organization for logistics from 1985 to 1986. Ebrahimi spent the longest period of his career at Tehran Metro Company where he worked as the official in charge of Tehran Metro project from 1986 to 1997. Finally, when Akbar Torkan went to Industries Development and Renovation Organization, he appointed Ebrahimi Asl as his deputy.

Managing director of National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) was appointed from within the ministry. Seyed Reza Kasaeizadeh is among long-standing directors of Ministry of Petroleum, which has now replaced his old friend, Mohammad Mallaki, as managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company, as a result of which he will have to leave the Petroleum Engineering and Development Company. The most important achievement of Kasaeizadeh in that company was accomplishing Neka-Rey oil pipeline project which was later known as the CROS project. Kasaeizadeh was born in 1949 in Ardestan, a city in the Isfahan province. He is a graduate of mechanical engineering from Elm-o-Sanat (Science and Industry) University. He came to the Ministry of Petroleum in 1975 and has worked as head of repairs and renovation of Isfahan refinery as well as director of refining affairs and director of integrative management department of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company. He has also worked as a member of the board of directors of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company.

Merging Caspian Affairs Department into International Affairs Department of National Iranian Oil Company caused Asadollah Salehiforouz to lose his place as a senior director at Ministry of Petroleum. Although policies taken toward Caspian Sea affairs are of utmost importance to Iran and drillings in the sea will start as of next year to double its sensitivity, it seems that merging the two international affairs and Caspian Sea affairs departments was a logical step because following up Iran’s policies in the Caspian Sea should be carried out within the framework of the Caspian Sea Oil Company. After merging the two departments, Mohammad Hadi Nejad Hosseinian was reinstated by Hamaneh for four more years as deputy minister of petroleum for international affairs, though his responsibilities have increased. The Caspian Sea will play a pivotal role in the future of oil activities of Iran.

Another change made by Vaziri Hamaneh was appointing Mansour Moazzemi, who previously worked at the National Petrochemical Company, as the new deputy minister for manpower affairs. Meanwhile, Mehdi Asali, former head of Institute for International Energy Studies (IIES) said goodbye to the institute a while ago. Ali Asghar Zare’ei, whose name was on the list of Ministry of Petroleum candidates, will take his place to continue his scientific activities in the field of energy. We will probably be witnessing extensive changes in Ministry of Petroleum and its affiliated companies over the upcoming days; changes which will be directly supervised by the new minister of petroleum.