Surong seen as front runner to replace Prasert

Much to the disappointment of PTT president and CEO Prasert Bunsumpun and returns-oriented shareholders, the new chief of the oil and gas empire is unlikely to be Tevin Vongvanich, currently the chief financial officer.

Among the four people applying for the top job, Surong Bulakul is instead considered the most suitable choice for Thailand's largest enterprise, given that he has all three key qualities required: experience, management credentials and, importantly, political-manoeuvring skills.

In terms of experience and management credentials, Surong, currently CEO of Thai Oil, is second to none among the applicants, who will have to demonstrate their visions for PTT this week.

Graduating in industrial engineering from Syracuse University and gaining a master's in operations research and an MBA from Cornell University, Surong has been involved in several areas of energy-related industries. Starting his career as a cost engineer at Los Angeles-based Bechtel Power Corp, he joined the Petroleum Authority of Thailand - now known as PTT - in 1983.

After working as an assistant chief for loan administration in the International Finance Division during 1983-1987, he was promoted to become the enterprise's first chief representative at the Singapore office. Later, he was placed in charge of the supply trading and international trading areas. He was vice president of the Supply Trading Department during 1991-1992, senior vice president of International Supply & Trading at PTT International from 1992-1996, and executive vice president of International Trading during 1996-2002.

Surong then switched course to gas on his appointment as executive vice president, Natural Gas Supply & Trading, Gas Business Group. He was chief negotiator for natural-gas supply contracts from the Thai-Malaysian Joint Development Area from 2002 to 2005.

He was then reappointed as executive vice president of International Trading during 2005-2007, after which he became senior executive vice president from 2008 until September 2009, before his most recent assignment at Thai Oil began in October 2009.

Despite this widespread management experience, his most important quality is his political-manoeuvring skill.

"He knows well how to handle requests from politicians," said a source in the Energy Industry, who asked not to be named.

According to sources familiar with the PTT selection committee, this skill is seen as being as important as the other two credentials as politicians chase sponsorships or other types of financial assistance from PTT, which is the Kingdom's biggest and richest state enterprise. Thai Rath reported earlier that last year alone, PTT awarded over Bt100 million in sponsorships for sport events.

And dealing with this kind of request is an area in which Tevin and another insider candidate, Pailin Chuchottaworn, are regarded as weak.

The good news is that it is very likely that only these three insiders will be in the race, while there is one outside applicant, who according to Prachachart Thurakit is Permsak Kosolbhand, CEO of Valvoline (Thailand) and a former executive of Thai Petrochemical Industry.

In the opinion of the sources, the names of Goanpot Asvinvichit and Poosana Preemanoch only emerged before the application period ended in order to encourage as many insiders as possible to submit applications. In the event, they themselves did not apply.

Prasert has said that he personally wishes an insider to succeed him, given the extensive nature of business at PTT.

He also sees the term of service as crucial for management continuity. If appointed PTT chief, Surong could be in the position for just four years. In this regard, Tevin is a better choice, given that he is eight years away from retirement age.

Tevin has also been personally groomed by Prasert since he was appointed CFO in 2008. The incumbent CEO is of the view that if PTT is to achieve its mission to reap annual revenue of more than Bt3 trillion, become a multinational energy firm and a Fortune top-100 company, PTT Exploration and Production will be the key player. And no one would be better at guiding PTT towards its goal than Tevin, who spent 15 of his 22 years of PTT service at PTTEP.

Stock analysts share this view. Being an engineer by training with degrees from Chulalongkorn University, Rice University and University of Houston, Tevin is quite a straightforward person. To the analysts, this trait would help solidify corporate strategies and strengthen the empire.

Regarding Pailin, currently president and CEO of IRPC, a PTT source said that despite success in turning around the company that was formerly Thai Petrochemical Industry, he is considered an outsider compared to both Surong and Tevin.

With bachelor through to doctoral degrees in engineering, Pailin started his career in the academic arena. After serving as director of the National Metal and Materials Technology Centre and then head of the National Nanotechnology Centre, both under the Science and Technology Ministry, he joined the private sector in 2005 as a director of PTT Polymer Marketing.

In subsequent years, he was appointed director of both PTT Asahi Chemical and Bangkok Polyethylene, as representative of Bangkok Bank Group. He joined PTT Group in 2008 and was appointed IRPC president in the following year.

Still, much as we hate to admit it, it all depends. By the end of next month, however, we will know who will take the reins at Thailand's largest enterprise.