Essar appoints new CEO for Mombasa refinery

India’s Essar Energy Overseas Ltd., which recently closed the deal to acquire a 50% stake in the Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd.’s (KPRL) Mombasa refinery, has appointed a new chief executive to expedite the turnaround of the ageing facility. Essar has selected Raj Varma, who was formerly based at the firm’s headquarters in Mumbai where he has been chief executive officer (CEO) of Essar’s Oil marketing division. Essar will invest up to US$450 million over the next three years to upgrade the 80,000 barrel-per-day refinery, including installing its own 24-MW power plant to improve the supply of electricity to the facility. (September 2, 2009)