Rosneft-owned Nayara Energy has appointed Prasad K Panicker, director and head of refinery, as the chairman of the company, effective 3 October. 

Panicker, who currently is Director and Head of Refinery at Nayara, will replace Charles Anthony (Tony) Fountain, whose five-year term is ending, the company said in a statement.

Russia's Rosneft-backed Nayara operates a 20-million-tonnes-a-year capacity oil refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat and over 6,500 petrol pumps in the country.