Statoil’s senior vice president to join Aker BP’s management team

Norwegian oil company Aker BP has appointed a new senior vice president of operations to join the executive management team.

Aker BP said on Monday that Kjetel Digre, Statoil’s senior vice president and project director of the Johan Sverdrup development, would become the company’s SVP of operations.

Digre holds an MSc with distinction in subsea and petroleum engineering from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Karl Johnny Hersvik, CEO of Aker BP, said: “As a partner of Statoil at the Johan Sverdrup field, I know Kjetel well. He has impressed us and the rest of the partnership by managing this very complex and valuable project in an excellent manner. I am confident that Kjetel will be a huge contributor to our management team, enabling Aker BP to deliver on our business commitments. ”

Digre will succeed Eldar Larsen as the SVP of operations who decided to pursue other opportunities.

“He has been instrumental in the integration of BP Norge into Aker BP, and I have personally learned a lot about operational excellence from working closely with Eldar. I wish him all the best in his pursuit of new opportunities,” Hersvik added.

Regarding his appointment, Kjetel Digre said: “I have spent my entire professional career since 1993 with very interesting tasks in Statoil. Now the time was right to seek new challenges and try something new in Aker BP. In the near future, I will focus on my tasks in Statoil, and I look forward to new exciting challenges with new colleagues in Aker BP.”

Svein Jacob Liknes, vice president of operations at Skarv will act as head of operations in the interim, until Digre takes on the position.