TEHRAN - Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad has appointed Hamid Bovard as the Deputy Oil Minister and Head of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

Paknejad also appointed the main and alternate members of the Board of Directors of the National Iranian Oil Company by issuing separate decrees, IRNA reported.

Before this position, Bovard had served as the head of the Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC), Oil Exploration Operations Company (OEOC), and National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC).

Bovard replaced Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr who was in the position since September 2021.

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is a government-owned national oil and natural gas producer and distributor under the direction of the Iranian Oil Ministry. NIOC was established in 1951 and restructured under The Consortium Agreement of 1954.

NIOC ranks as the world's second-largest oil company, after Saudi Arabia's state-owned Aramco.

EF/MA