Whether he courts attention or not, Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz is now firmly in the global spotlight after being appointed to lead Malaysia’s national oil and gas company Petronas, widely regarded as Southeast Asia’s leading energy player.

He took the helm on 1 July after the surprise resignation and departure of chief executive Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin ahead of the completion of his second five-year appointed term.

A political source familiar with Muhammad Taufik’s appointment says that while other candidates were lobbying intensely, Muhammad Taufik was viewed positively, partly because he did not push for the job and was — at least initially — hesitant to accept the appointment.

“He actually made it clear [that he was not keen on the job] but what he didn’t know is that this reluctance bagged him the top post at Petronas as the others were seen as being too hungry for position and power,” this source was quoted by The Edge.

Muhammad Taufik, appointed as Petronas chief financial officer and a member of the board of directors in October 2018, is also a member of the company’s executive leadership team and a non-independent, non-executive director of Petronas' majority-held shipping company, MISC.

Muhammad Taufik had been a partner at accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers Malaysia, where he served as the oil and gas leader before rejoining the national oil company.

He was group chief financial officer of SapuraKencana Petroleum from December 2012 to January 2015 and before that served as Tanjong deputy chief financial officer.

Before these posts, Muhammad Taufik held various positions at Petronas from the turn of the century to 2012 in departments including business development, corporate planning and internal audit.

Immediate tasks

The 47-year-old, who was appointed by Malaysia’s Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, is the third Petronas chief executive since Hassan Marican stepped down a decade ago after 15 years in the role.

Like his immediate predecessor, Muhammad Taufik has taken the reins when yet again the cyclical oil price is languishing.

That could add pressure to his immediate task of keeping Petronas on an even keel, both financially and politically.

One of the key tests that Muhammad Taufik could soon have to face is the suggested revision of Malaysia’s Petroleum Development Act 1974, which governs Petronas and also spells out the 5% royalties to be given to the producing states of Sarawak and Sarawak.

Wan Zulkiflee had publicly spoken out that, in his view, the oil and gas royalties afforded to the states of Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Kelantan should not be increased, as without any compensatory mechanism Petronas’ bottom line would suffer.

The company’s profit was already lower in the 2019 financial year compared to the previous 12 months, and that was before the coronavirus pandemic hit global oil and gas demand and caused prices to tank.

Muhammad Taufik was chief financial officer when Petronas revealed in its 2019 annual report that the group’s return on total assets and return on average capital employed had respectively decreased to 8.6% and 8.7% from 11.8% and 12% the previous year.

As chief executive, it seems that he has wasted no time in addressing the decades-old royalty dispute with Sarawak that has resulted in protracted legal action and has been seen by some as a negative for upstream investment.

This month, together with Petronas chairman Ahmad Nizam Salleh, he paid a courtesy call to Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg.

Discussions between the leaders centred on various matters of mutual interest towards further development of the local oil and gas industry, benefiting the people of Sarawak and the nation, noted Petronas.

Another issue facing the new chief executive is the current inability to engage and bond face-to-face with the company’s employees, be they at the Kuala Lumpur headquarters or much further afield.

Rallying staff

Apparently realising the importance of such engagement, Muhammad Taufik on 15 July hosted a live streaming session with staff from Malaysia and around the world.

Petronas said via Facebook that the conversation with the new chief executive “rallied staff to move forward together in addressing challenges in the global economy and energy industry landscape”.

The session went down well with employees with one, Geetha Srinivasan, describing Muhammad Taufik's “energetic, visionary, clear and focused delivery".

"[I’m] inspired by the first impression... we look forward to moving forward with you”, she said.

Little is publicly known about the personal life of Muhammad Taufik, who has a bachelor of arts with honours in finance and accounting from the UK’s University of Strathclyde.

The Malaysian national also graduated as a chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and is a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

Once the world has transitioned to a post-pandemic "new normal", expect to see industry eyes on Muhammad Taufik when the new Petronas chief executive finally — and physically — steps into the oil and gas arena at home and overseas.

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Muhammad Taufik takes the reins at Petronas