Stepping down: Hassan Marican
Abbas takes Petronas top job
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed that former Malaysian International Shipping Corporation's (MISC) boss Shamsul Azhar Abbas will take the helm of state-run Petronas from 10 February.
Shamsul, 57, will replace Hassan Merican whose contract with Petronas expires on 9 February.
There had been concerns that incumbent Hassan Merican would be replaced by a political appointee at a time when Malaysia grapples with its biggest budget deficit in 20 years and as the country faces becoming a net oil importer next year.
Hassan Merican ran Petronas since 1995 and was known for resisting excessive government demands on Petronas revenues, although the company's revenues funded the Petronas Twin Towers and the construction of a new capital city.
Petronas has in recent years driven its search for reserves overseas and recently won a contract in Iraq. More controversially it is involved in natural gas projects in Iran and oil exploration in Sudan.
Petronas revenues were $75 billion in its latest fiscal year to March 2009 and it made a net profit of 52.5 billion ringgit ($15.45 billion).