NPD Gets Temporary Director General

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has announced a temporary appointment, naming Torgeir Stordal as the Director General of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) from June 30 until a new Director General is hired.

Stordal has been the acting Director General since Ingrid Sølvberg resigned from her limited term appointment on June 17. He has been employed by the NPD since 2017 - first as Exploration Director and since 2021 as Director of the Technology, Analyses and Co-existence department - and previously held a number of leading industry positions within exploration and resource management.

On June 17, the NPD announced that Sølvberg had resigned from her position as Director General for the NPD, adding that she had chosen to resign to take on a position in the private business sector. In an organization statement at the time, the NPD revealed that Stordal would be acting Director General until further notice.

In October 2019, the NPD announced that Sølvberg would take over the post of Director General, following Bente Nyland. In an NPD statement at the time, the NPD outlined that the Director General position is posted as a fixed term engagement of six years, with the option of an additional six-year period. Nyland’s second term period expired at the end of 2019.

Sølvberg took on the role after more than five years as a member of the NPD’s strategic management team with responsibility for development and operations. She started off her career in Statoil (now Equinor) in 1995 as a subsea engineer and was assigned her first management position in 2004.

Established in 1972, the NPD is a governmental specialist directorate and administrative body which reports to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

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