New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) Essar Oil (UK) Ltd on Tuesday announced the appointment of Tony Fountain, Managing Partner at Essar Energy Transition, as a non-executive board director.

"The appointment comes at a key time for Essar as it delivers on its investment plans of transitioning to amongst the first low carbon refineries globally," it said in a statement.

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Fountain's appointment will support the delivery of Essar Energy Transition (EET)'s ambitious USD 3.6 billion investment in developing a range of low-carbon energy transition projects over the next five years. Of this, USD 2.4 billion will be invested at the Essar site in Ellesmere Port, between Liverpool and Manchester.

"Tony brings extensive manufacturing, marketing and specialist trading experience and transformation experience. He started his career at BP and his roles have included the CEO of refining and marketing at Reliance Industries Limited. This was uniquely followed by a period as CEO of the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority - with oversight for nuclear decommissioning.

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"He then went on to apply this extensive operational, regulatory, and health and safety experience in a range of board positions, also applying his governance experience to companies operating in complex environments over three continents. This includes roles as Chair of Sellafield UK and of Nayara Energy Limited and as a non-Executive Director at ATCO Group," it said.

Essar's executive board member is Deepak Maheshwari (Chief Executive Officer). Its existing non-executive board members are Kuthoore Natarajan Venkatasubramanian and Tim Bullock (both independent Non-Executive Directors), Andrew Wright (non-executive director), and Mark Palios (independent non-executive director). The Board is chaired by Prashant Ruia as the non-executive chair.

Ruia said Fountain brings over 40 years of operational, regulatory and executive experience that will enhance business at this vital stage in transition. "We are committed to leading the energy transition and Tony's appointment will play a crucial role in achieving this ambition."

Fountain said, "The company is committed to be amongst the first low-carbon refineries globally and to play a key role in the decarbonisation of the North West. The task at hand is a vital one, to secure the refinery's performance today to enable it to act as a catalyst for the levelling-up investment the region needs and to deliver on Essar Energy Transition's commitments".

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