The Board of Directors of Equinor has appointed Anders Opedal as new president and CEO from 02 November 2020. Eldar Sætre will retire after six years as CEO and more than 40 years in the company.
“The Board is proud to present Anders Opedal as our next CEO. Equinor is entering a phase of significant change as the world needs to take more forceful action to combat climate change. The board’s mandate is for Anders to accelerate our development as a broad energy company and to increase value creation for our shareholders through the energy transition,” says Jon Erik Reinhardsen, Chair of the Board of Directors in Equinor.
The first engineer to become CEO, Anders Opedal comes from the position as Executive Vice President Technology, Projects and Drilling. He joined Equinor as a petroleum engineer in 1997, spent many years in Drilling and Well and served as Chief Procurement Officer. In 2011, he was chosen to lead Equinor’s approximately NOK 300 billion project portfolio. He later served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer before taking the role as Senior Vice President and country manager Brazil. Opedal holds a Master’s degree in Engineering from The Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTNU) and an MBA from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
“I am honoured and proud to take over the responsibility as CEO. I am confident in Equinor and all our people, and in our ability to change and continue creating long-term value for our shareholders also in a low carbon future. We have a great starting point for what will be a massive transition with our strong assets, outstanding competence, technology and innovation skills, and we have highly engaged people and strong values to guide us in this process. Together, we will accelerate the development of Equinor as a broad energy company and our growth within renewables,” says Anders Opedal.
Eldar Sætre turns 65 years early next year and indicated before summer to the Board that this could be a natural point of retirement. This allowed the Board to plan a stepwise transition process to give a new CEO time to prepare for taking over the role.
Opedal will take over the position as president and CEO from 2 November and Eldar Sætre will be available to advise the new CEO until he retires from the company 1 March 2021.
“I have spent my entire working life in Equinor. I love this company and it has been the utmost privilege to work with all the great people in Equinor for the last four decades. I am very proud of what we have achieved together. Thanks to the relentless efforts from competent and dedicated people across the company, Equinor is today a stronger and more competitive company, better prepared for a low carbon future than ever. I know Anders well, and I am confident that he is the right person to lead the company during the next phase of the energy transition,” says Eldar Sætre, CEO of Equinor.
Anders Opedal will receive a base salary of 9,1 million NOK. He will participate in the variable pay schemes within the framework previously established for the CEO role. His annual variable pay target will be 25% (maximum 50%) and long-term incentive 30% of base salary. The pensionable salary will be capped at 12 G. He will receive a fixed salary addition of 18% of base salary in lieu of pension contribution above 12G.
