Yang Zaiyan, a 48-year-old geologist, has been appointed as president of Karazhanbasmunai, following the Kazakh producer's takeover by China's Citic Group, told Energy Intelligence Group Trend reports.
He started his career with China National Petroleum Corp. before moving to Sinochem, where his last position was as director and president of Atlantis Holding in Norway.
Karazhanbasmunai is going through a transition period until the end of March, by which time it hopes to have formed a management team and outlined a structure for administrative and organizational issues.
After the transition period, the company will start negotiations with Kazmunaigas on the purchase by the Kazakh state oil and gas company of a 50% stake in Karazhanbasmunai.