KUALA LUMPUR (July 19): Abdul Rahim Awang has resigned as president of Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd, with Nik Hamdan Daud to take over the post effective today.

Barakah Offshore said in a filing that Abdul Rahim resigned due to "personal reasons". He had joined the group on Sept 2, 2013 as the vice president and chief corporate officer.

Meanwhile, Nik Hamdan has been involved in the oil and gas industry since 1991, having been at Esso Production Malaysia Inc as a quality control and corrosion engineer. He had also served as managing director of German-owned offshore pipeline service company Pipetronix Sdn Bhd from 1996 to 2000.

He had then founded PBJV Group Sdn Bhd in 2000, the market leader in pipeline services in Malaysia, serving various reputable clients including Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, Sarawak Shell Bhd, ExxonMobil, Petrofac, Newfield, Murphy Oil, Talisman Malaysia Ltd and VietsoPetro.

"He has been extensively involved in upstream activities, mainly in pipeline services, integrity management, platform operations and maintenance, developing standard operating procedures, the training and development of engineers and Health Safety Environment Management Systems (HSEMS)," said Barakah Offshore.

Barakah Offshore's share price closed 0.5 sen or 9.1% higher at 6 sen, giving a market capitalisation of RM50.15 million.