India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) appointed Dr Anil Bhandari as director (Exploration) of ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), its overseas upstream unit, from March 1. He will manage exploration assets, evaluate opportunities and spearhead the firm's business development process for acquisitions of exploration and producing assets. 

Dr Bhandari, who holds a M.Tech (Applied Geology) and PhD from Department of Geology Rajasthan University, Udaipur India, joined ONGC in 1979. He served as Head Geoscience Group, Head Basin Research group, KDMIPE, Head Functional training Group of ONGC Academy and in management of exploration activities in Cambay Basin, Assam Arakan Basin, Mumbai Offshore and other exploration projects of ONGC. 

Prior to joining the Board of OVL, Bhandari was in Sudan as executive director, and country manager, ONGC Nile Ganga BV, Khartoum, with responsibility for upstream, midstream and downstream operations, the company said in a press release.