SMRT chairman Seah Moon Ming steps down as CEO of Pavilion Energy

Singapore

TEMASEK Holdings unit Pavilion Energy's current chief executive Seah Moon Ming is stepping down in order to focus more on his role as chairman of SMRT Corp.

Taking his place from Feb 1 is Frederic Barnaud, who is now employed by Gazprom Marketing and Trading (GM&T) group in London.

Mr Seah leaves Pavilion that day.

He had indicated his wish to devote more time and attention to his new role as chairman of SMRT Corp, a position to which he was appointed in July, said Pavilion Energy chairman Mohd Hassan Marican.

"The board is confident that Moon Ming leaves the group in a strong position, and the group will transit to (the) new leadership well, based on these solid foundations," he said in a statement.

Mr Barnaud is currently the chief commercial officer of LNG, oil and shipping at GM&T; before this, he was the global head of LNG trading and shipping at Total SA. The French national has more than 25 years of experience in the energy, oil and gas sectors, which includes establishing and managing commercial, trading and shipping businesses in global energy markets, said Pavilion Energy in the statement.

In an address to Pavilion's staff on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Seah said that it has become increasingly urgent that he spend more time at SMRT, to focus on supporting and leading the efforts by its management team to resolve its issues. Still, Pavilion Energy has achieved more than it could have imagined since its incorporation in March 2013, he said.

He noted that the group has built itself across the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) value chain, from having a stake in gas reserves in Tanzania to obtaining gas offtake from US projects and portfolio suppliers. It has joint ownership in three LNG carriers and recently also secured the right to use a storage tank at the Singapore LNG terminal.

Its subsidiary Pavilion Gas has also developed full LNG trading and operational capabilities, and has been pioneering small-scale LNG distribution in the region, he added.

"We are at the centre of a growing LNG market, underpinned by China, India and South-east Asia," he said in the statement. "I am confident that the group will continue to do well."