Statoil's CEO Quits For Top Job At BG Group

Ironically, one of BG's biggest future projects may be an LNG plant in Tanzania, to be jointly built with Statoil, after the firms found more than 30 billion cubic feet of gas in several nearby offshore licence areas.

"BG's key priorities are the delivery of the large new projects, managing decline in its mature regions, the monetisation of some assets and a reinvigoration of its exploration pipeline. Helge Lund has proved successful at this, while at the helm of Statoil," analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a note.

Lund, who will start at BG on March 2, becomes the first CEO of Statoil to leave the still state-controlled firm voluntarily. The Norwegian government is now looking for CEOs at three of its biggest firms, with vacancies also at Telenor and Yara .

"Lund had been driving the Statoil cash cycle to a more balanced level," brokerage Jefferies said in a note. "In the near term we believe there is now a risk that these efforts lose some momentum."

But Chairman Svein Rennemo dismissed those fears saying there is no change in direction.

"We are searching for a new CEO, not a new strategy," Rennemo said. "The strategy is well-anchored in the board."

Possible Tenfold Rise In Pay

Statoil has already appointed Eldar Saetre, currently head of its marketing, processing and renewables division, as its acting chief executive while the firm searches for a permanent replacement for Lund. Saetre has ruled himself out as a candidate, Rennemo said.

A potential hurdle in attracting top candidates will be the relatively low pay, a norm for Nordic countries and especially important for a state-owned firm. The new CEO does not have to be Norwegian but must be able to navigate Norwegian society, including the country's politics, Rennemo said.


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