Oil billionaire calls for Statoil boss to be sacked
The Local Norway - [email protected]
Published: 7 Feb, 2014 CET.
Updated: Fri 7 Feb 2014 11:17 CET
A Norwegian oil billionaire and private equity investor has called for Statoil's chief executive Helge Lund to be sacked as the company posted a 14 percent drop in net income and shelved its 2020 production target.
"Helge Lund and a dozen directors in charge of overseas business should pick up their hats and go," Endre Røsjø told Norway's Finansavisen newspaper. "This is the world's most competitive business. It's not the place for retired senior executives from other industries and washed-up politicians" The state-controlled oil giant quietly dropped its 2020 production target in a footnote to one of the slides on it's results presentation. "According to projections, 2.5 million boed production to be reached 3-4 years after the previous 2020 estimate," it read. In a press statement Lund, who this August will have led the company for ten years, said it was important to put financial returns over production. "Our strategy for value creation and growth remains firm, but we are making some important changes," he said. "Stricter project prioritisation and a comprehensive efficiency program will improve cash flow and profitability." He said the company would cut annual investment to $20bn a year, a cut of eight percent on its previous strategy. Røsjø, an investment banker who made his name in the US oil industry in the 1980s, now runs private equity firm Centennial AS.
Comments
See Also
"Helge Lund and a dozen directors in charge of overseas business should pick up their hats and go," Endre Røsjø told Norway's Finansavisen newspaper. "This is the world's most competitive business. It's not the place for retired senior executives from other industries and washed-up politicians"
The state-controlled oil giant quietly dropped its 2020 production target in a footnote to one of the slides on it's results presentation.
"According to projections, 2.5 million boed production to be reached 3-4 years after the previous 2020 estimate," it read.
In a press statement Lund, who this August will have led the company for ten years, said it was important to put financial returns over production.
"Our strategy for value creation and growth remains firm, but we are making some important changes," he said. "Stricter project prioritisation and a comprehensive efficiency program will improve cash flow and profitability."
He said the company would cut annual investment to $20bn a year, a cut of eight percent on its previous strategy.
Røsjø, an investment banker who made his name in the US oil industry in the 1980s, now runs private equity firm Centennial AS.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.