Ten of the eleven level-two executives in the NPD’s new organization are now in place. Six new directors were hired earlier this year. This change in the management constellation has come about in connection with a new statute governing central government employees in Norway.

The Act states that managers can no longer occupy rotational positions, as was previously the case in the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD). Instead, they must be employed in permanent positions. Discontinuation of the rotation scheme meant that the NPD had to advertise all management positions, both externally and internally.

“We’ve recruited both in-house and externally, and I think we have succeeded in putting together a competent and broad-based management group. There were around 170 applications for the ten level-two executive positions. The fact that so many were interested in helping to bring the NPD forward is very good to know and very motivating,” says Director general Ingrid Sølvberg.

Overview of the ten new managers

The management group in the main area of Licence Management (LM) (Director Development and Operations) – Director Kalmar Ildstad:

Wenche Tjelta Johansen
Wenche has a Cand. Scient. degree from the Institute of Solid Earth Physics – University of Bergen (1995), and comes from the position of Assistant director exploration in the NPD. She will take up her post on 1 December 2020.

Niels-Erik Hald
Niels-Erik has a Master of Science in Materials technology from NTNU (1995), and comes from the position of Assistant director development and operations in the NPD. He will take up his post on 1 December 2020.

Tomas Mørch
Thomas is a chartered engineer specialising in reservoir technology, with a degree from HiR (1991). He comes from a position as principal engineer in the NPD. He will take up his post on 1 December 2020.

The areas of responsibility have not yet been distributed among the managers.

Management group in the primary area Technology and Coexistence (TCE) – Director Torgeir Stordal:

Arne Jacobsen
Arne has a Cand. Scient degree from the University of Bergen, in reservoir geophysics (1996). He comes from the position as lead geoscientist in Lotos E&P Norge, and will join the staff by 1 March 2021.

Kjersti Dahle Grov
Kjersti has a Cand. scient. degree in petroleum geology from the University of Bergen (1997), and comes from the position as exploration manager in Equinor. She will take up her post on 15 February 2021.

Erik Nilsen Rundell
Erik has a chartered engineer education in automation from Chalmers University of Technology (2006) and a Master of science in industrial economics from the University of Stavanger (2009). He comes from the position as principal engineer and technical coordinator in the NPD. Erik will start his job by 1 January 2021.

The areas of responsibility have not yet been distributed among the managers.

Management group in the primary area Analyses and data management (ADM) – director May Karin Mannes:

Hilde Nordbø
Hilde has been hired as head of data management. She is a trained chartered engineer in industrial economics. She has 15 years of experience from Equinor; her previous position was general manager of Efab. Hilde will take up her post on 1 January 2021.

Nadine Mader-Kayser
Nadine will become the new head of shelf analysis. She is a trained geologist from the Philipp University of Marburg and also has a doctorate in geology from the University of Manchester. Over the last two years, Nadine has run her own geoscience consultancy in Canada within mining operations in Calgary. She will join the staff on 1 March 2021.

Management group in the primary area Organisation and IT (OIT) – director Erik Garshol:

Tommy Rafos
Tommy has been hired as head of IT development and operations. He has a master’s degree in communications technology from NTNU (2004). His current position is ICT director, Awilco Drilling, and his previous positions have been in Cegal, Neptune, Engie E & P Norge. Tommy will start work on 1 January 2021.

Louis Vos
Louis will be the head of finance and joint services. He has a Bachelor/honours degree within law/economics from the University of Johannesburg (1998), along with further education. He is also a certified financial analyst (CFA). He is currently CFO in Well Conveyor, while most of his career in Norway is from Total E & P Norge as treasurer and Head of cost control. Louis will take up his post on 1 January 2021.

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: Norwegian Petroleum Directorate