Dr Dulal Halder has taken over the charge of Director (Operations) at ONGC Videsh Ltd, India’s largest international E&P company, with oil and gas projects in 15 countries across the world. Dr. Halder is a senior energy professional with over 30 years of experience in domestic and international oil and gas, spanning offshore and onshore operations, business development, M&A, project management, and corporate strategy. He began his career with ONGC as a production engineer at Mumbai High offshore platform. Early in his career, he coordinated the first-ever redevelopment plan for Mumbai High North and South, successfully delivering the feasibility studies and securing investment approvals on time. Recognized for his leadership potential, he was handpicked in 2001 and entrusted with expanding ONGC Videsh’s overseas ventures where he played a pioneering role in expanding the company’s footprint from a single Vietnam exploration block to 35 projects across continents, with overseas production peaking at 14.98 MMT by 2020. He successfully delivered landmark international transactions in Sudan, Nigeria, Qatar, Angola, Kenya, Gabon, Ecuador, New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia, and Russia. He secured India’s first overseas equity oil by successfully concluding the multi-million-dollar transaction with Canada’s Talisman Energy in March 2003. Dr. Halder has held senior leadership roles, including Senior VP (Strategy & Corporate Planning), VP (International Acquisitions & Business Development), Country Manager (Nigeria), and Executive Officer to the MD & CEO. He has managed deep-water drilling operations in Africa, negotiated high-value transactions worth billions of dollars, and forged joint ventures with global majors such as TotalEnergies, Addax, Sinopec, Mittal Investments, Qatar Energy, CNPC, Shell and Petronas. In ONGC’s domestic operations, he has overseen major brownfield and greenfield projects in Mumbai offshore and Assam, including mega-scale redevelopment and augmentation projects, while driving technology induction in inline separators, multiphase pumping, and modular offshore production units. He has been bestowed with the ONGC Chairman’s Award (2006) and ONGC Videsh CEO Awards (2014, 2018) for exemplary performance. A thought leader in India’s energy security strategy, Dr. Halder authored ONGC Videsh’s Business Development Policy, introduced the Zero-Based Risk Review (ZBRR) framework for global acquisitions, and contributed to India’s 12th Five-Year Plan through the Planning Commission’s (now Niti Aayog) sub-committee on overseas oil and gas acquisitions. He also led the organizational restructuring of ONGC Videsh with BCG and anchored the Pan-IIT Research Initiative for E&P Sector-Academia collaboration. Dr. Halder holds a B. Tech in Petroleum Engineering from IIT-ISM Dhanbad, MBA (HRD) from NMIMS Mumbai, and Ph.D. in Energy Management from UPES Dehradun. Additionally, he has pursued senior management programs at Energy Delta Institute (Netherlands), Frankfurt School of Finance & Management (Germany), University of Antwerp (Belgium), and IFP Training School (Paris).