NPD presents new management team

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has presented the six directors that will make up its senior management team.

The NPD said on Thursday that the six-person team would work along with current director-general Ingrid Sølvberg.

Director general Ingrid Sølvberg said: “I am extremely glad to have such capable people on the team, their expertise and management experience will be a good contribution as the new organisation is formed, further developed and operated in the years to come.

“There was a total of around 150 applicants for the positions, and we have had an intense period where we have interviewed many good candidates. We have recruited both within the organisation and externally, and the result is an exciting and broad-based management group”.

According to the Directorate, the positions were advertised at the end of April. Everyone will be in place during this autumn, and the current management will function until the end of the year.

Kristin Reitan Husebø will be the director of framework, performance management, and improvement. Her responsibilities will include legal framework and regulatory development, performance management, and coordination of improvement and efficiency efforts.

Her previous positions include market director in Stavanger Aftenblad, managing director for Prekubator Technology Transfer Office, and managing director in Stavanger Helseforsikring. Before that, she was a controller and head of finances and planning in what was then Statoil (now Equinor).

Ola Anders Skauby will be the director of communications and public affairs. He will work on external and internal communication, media relations, and profiling.

The new director of communications has been with Equinor for twelve years, the last three years with global responsibility for staff preparedness and staff security, with follow-up, information, advisory activity, assistance, and training within these fields.

He has also held several different positions within communication in the group, including as press spokesperson and director of communications.

Skauby has also worked with communications and contracts in Subsea 7, Halliburton and the Norwegian Defence Estates Agency.

Erik Garshol has been hired as the director of organisation and IT. His responsibilities include organisational and management development, HR and wage policy, finance, building management, and IT operations and development.

Today, he has day-to-day responsibility for HR strategy and change in development and production in Equinor. Since 2007, he has been in various executive positions within HR and improvement in Equinor. Garshol has previously been a consultant for Bjørnson Organisasjonspsykologene.

He previously worked on developing Equinor’s operating model, including the interface between IT and digitalisation, and has contributed to the development and realisation of digital improvement projects.

May Karin Mannes will be the director of NCS analysis and data management. She will work on resource accounts, prognoses, NCS analyses, shelf data management, and international work.

Currently, she is a director responsible for consultancy services within gas and LNG for the British consultancy firm Timera Energy.

In 2012, Mannes helped start up the analysis company Eclipse Energy Group, when she was responsible for their gas market analyses. Eclipse became a well-known gas market analysis company in Europe and was purchased by S&P in 2014.

She has previously held several executive positions within gas and LNG sales in what was then Statoil, including as director of business development and director of gas sales.

Kalmar Ildstad will be the director of exploration, production, and area development. Ildstad’s responsibilities will comprise following up exploration and production activity on the NCS, including access to acreage, area development, and licence administration.

He is one of the two directors chosen from the NPD where she is the acting director of development and operations.

Ildstad has worked for the NPD since 1989. He has held executive positions on numerous occasions with different areas of responsibility up until today, including data management, skills development, and development and operations.

NPD stated that he has a broad knowledge about the industry and public administration, and solid expertise and experience with a number of the most important disciplines the position is responsible for.

Torgeir Stordal will be the director of geoscience, technology, and co-existence. He will focus on geo and reservoir-technical and technical facility assessments, seabed minerals, co-existence at sea, emissions and discharges to the environment, fiscal metering audits, and research and technology cooperation.

He is the second director chosen from within the Directorate where he is the director of exploration, a position he has held since 2017.

He has previously been the head of Shell’s exploration activity in Norway and has held a global role within resource evaluation at Shell’s office in the Netherlands.

According to the NPD, Torgeir is extensively familiar with the industry and public administration and has solid expertise and experience with a number of the most important disciplines the position is responsible for.