PETALING JAYA: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has appointed Adnan Zainal Abidin as chief operating officer, the first appointment for the post since 2012.

       Adnan came into the role following the reshuffling of Petronas’ new energy business unit.

       The national oil company is setting up an independent entity called “clean energy solution” in the middle of this year to amplify its effort in the new energy business, which will include renewable energy, hydrogen and green mobility.

       Adnan will remain in his post as the executive vice president and CEO of the gas business.

       “Please note that Petronas is not abandoning hydrocarbons. A decarbonised future is not a future entirely absent of hydrocarbons.

       “The main challenge is to address emission,” said Petronas president and group CEO Datuk Tengku Muhammad Taufik to reporters after the group’s FY21 performance briefing on Tuesday.

       Towards this end, he said Petronas will establish two new business units - namely “Cleaner Energy Solution” and “Centralised Carbon Management Unit”.

       “The new units amplified our efforts in the new energy business,” Tengku Taufik said.

       Over the next five years, Petronas has targeted to allocate 20% of its annual capital expenditure into new energy and net-zero carbon initiatives.

       The previous COO of Petronas, Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee, was appointed in 2012. He was later appointed as the president and CEO of Petronas in 2015.