Statfjord north flank on stream Catering staff on strike

Fjell becomes Statoil CEO

Norwegian Petroleum Museum

Olav Fjell took over as the third chief executive of Statoil on 24 September 1999 in succession to Harald Norvik.

— Faksimile from Status,1999 vol 21. no. 3. Photo: Arvid Steen/Equinor

He was a business economist with long experience of banking at Bergen Bank, DNB and most recently as head of Postbanken. This could be seen as an advantage after both his predecessors had been officially forced to resign over poor budget control.

But Fjell had no previous experience of the oil industry and had a fairly long overlap with Norvik. He served until September 2003, when he had to resign after Statoil was hit by corruption allegations. Known as the Horton affair, these emerged in connection with the company’s efforts to secure licences in Iran.

Source:
BBC News. “Statoil fined over Iranian bribes”,