Sætre has been acting as president and CEO since October, and assumes the role with immediate effect. He has 35 years of experience from Statoil and the oil and gas industry, the company said in its press release.
Sætre has extensive operational and financial experience from Statoil. He has been a member of the corporate executive committee since 2003. He started as chief financial officer, and later became executive vice president for the Marketing, Processing and Renewable Energy (MPR) business area.
Board chair Svein Rennemo has headed a subcommittee of the board that, following the resignation of Helge Lund in October of last year, has been responsible for the search for Statoil’s next CEO.
"We have conducted a comprehensive search. We have evaluated Norwegian and international candidates, both inside and outside the company," says Rennemo. He points to three main challenges for the next CEO:
Improving Statoil’s competitiveness, through a strengthened efficiency and improvement agenda.
Navigating a macroeconomic situation with larger uncertainty and stronger pressure on industry margins.
Increasing the speed of the company’s transition towards a low-carbon society.
"The candidate we were looking for needed in-depth knowledge of the oil and gas industry, and a strong understanding of Statoil´s challenges and opportunities. Those are non-negotiables for succeeding in this role," says Rennemo.