Board of directors - OKEA

Board of directors

Our board provides strong corporate governance which is essential for delivering sustainable value, enhancing business integrity and maintaining investors’ confidence.

Chaiwat Kovavisarach

Chairman of the board
Non-executive.

Chaiwat Kovavisarach (born 1966) has been the President and Group CEO of Bangchak Corporation Public Company Limited since 2015. He also serves on the board of several listed and non-listed companies including, vice-chairman of BCPG and Director of BBGI, and is the chairman of Thai-Europe Business Council, chairman of Innovation Institute for Industry vice chairman of the Federation of Thai industries, the executive chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Asian Institute of Technology and a Director of the International Chamber of Commerce for Thailand. He holds a Master of Engineering from the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), an MBA from Thammasat University and a Bachelor of Engineering from King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL).

Paul Murray

Board member
Non-executive. Member of the sustainability and technical risk committee.

Paul Murray (born 1969) has over 25 years’ experience in venture capital and private equity investment across technology and natural resources. He was previously a director of 3i’s technology investment team, Cazenove Private Equity, a partner at DFJ Esprit, and one of the founders of Seacrest Capital Partners. He holds a degree in Mathematics from Oxford University. 

Mike Fischer

Board member
Non-executive. Member of the people and organisation committee and member of sustainability and technical risk committee.

Mike Fischer (born 1958) has nearly 40 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry. He is currently an Executive Advisor to the Natural Resources business unit of Bangchak. Dr. Fischer has previously held senior management positions at Ophir Energy, OMV, Woodside Energy and BP. He holds a PhD from the University of Wales and a BSc from the University of Leeds. 

Saowapap Sumeksri

Board member
Non-executive. Member of the audit committee.

Saowapap Sumeksri (born 1968) has 25+ years of experience in finance from the oil and gas industry. She is currently the executive vice president Financial Controller at Bangchak Corporation Public Company Limited. Ms. Sumeksri also serves as a board member at Winnonie Company Limited, a green energy innovator. She has extensive experience in funding with various types of financial instruments. She holds an MBA from West Coast University USA and a BBA from Chulalongkorn University.

Finn Haugan

Board member
Independent, non-executive. Chair of people and organisational committee and member of audit committee.

Finn Haugan (born 1953) was from 1991 to May 2019 the CEO of SpareBank 1 SMN, before that deputy CEO of Fokus Bank (Danske Bank). Mr Haugan now holds positions as chairperson for the listed companies Norbit ASA and SpareBank 1 Sørøst-Norge. Furtheron he holds the position as chairperson for the non-listed companies Forte Asset Management AS, Sinkaberg Hansen AS, Elekt AS and Solon Eiendom AS and as deputy chairperson for LL Holding AS. Mr Haugan holds a master’s degree in business administration (MBA). 

Rune Olav Pedersen

Board member
Independent, non-executive. Chair of the audit committee.

Rune Olav Pedersen (born 1970) has been President & CEO of PGS ASA since 2017. Mr. Pedersen has previously held the position of executive vice president & general counsel at the company. Prior to joining PGS he was partner in the oil and gas department of the law firm Arntzen de Besche. He has a law degree from the University of Oslo, a post-graduate diploma in European competition law from Kings College London and an Executive MBA from London Business School. 

Grethe Moen

Board member
Independent, non-executive. Member of people and organisational committee.

Grethe Moen (born 1960) has close to 40 years of experience in leadership positions within the oil, gas and energy industry, including 25 years (1982-2007) with Equinor (Statoil) and four years (2007-2011) with Shell Europe. From 2013 to 2021, she served as CEO of Petoro AS, the Norwegian State-owned oil company managing the State Direct Financial Interest in Joint Ventures (SDFI/SDØE), and previously as Vice President of Petoro from 2011 to 2013. She is currently member of the boards of NEO Energy (UK) and TGS-NOPEC ASA and chair of the board of Trolltunga Robotics as well as member of the boards of the technology companies Ideation, toCircle, Exedra and ThinkTank Maths Norway. She is also member of the Advisory Board to DNV’s Cyber Security Business and Business Development Advisor to Accenture. Mrs Moen holds a master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from NTNU. 

Nicola Gordon

Board member
Independent, non-executive. Chair of the sustainability and technical risk committee.

Nicola Gordon (born 1957) has many years of experience from the energy industry. Ms. Gordon holds several board positions, among others as Chair of the audit committee at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and on Heriot-Watt University’s Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering's Strategy Advisory Board. Gordon’s experience at the Royal Dutch Shell Group includes vice president for Shell International, asset manager and board director at A/S Norske Shell and managing director at Shell Denmark. She is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Energy Institute and holds an MSc in Petroleum Engineering from Heriot-Watt University and a BSc in Chemical Engineering from University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

John Kristian Larsen

Board member
Employee elected. Member of the audit committee.

John Kristian Larsen (born 1978) has 20 years of experience from the oil and gas industry in Norway. He currently serves as Lead Integrity and Intervention Engineer at OKEA. He has previously held most positions on- and offshore within Drilling and Wells for Norsk Hydro, Statoil, Det norske and AkerBP. He holds an MSc in Petroleum Engineering from Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), including an exchange year at UNSW, Sydney. 

Jan Atle Johansen

Board member
Employee elected. Member of the sustainability and technical risk committee.

Jan Atle Johansen (born 1969) has 25 years of experience as a Production Technician at the Draugen oil production platform. Mr Johansen is the trade union leader for SAFE (union for personnel working in the energy sector). He holds four years of technical higher education and has served in the Royal Norwegian Navy in the Coastal artillery. 

Anne Lene Rømuld

Board member
Employee elected. Member of the people and organisational committee.

Anne Lene Rømuld (born 1971) has 25 years of oil & gas industry experience. She currently serves as Principal Engineer Control & Automation at OKEA. Prior to Joining OKEA, Ms. Rømuld held the position as senior Reliability Engineer at A/S Norske Shell and Manager of Control and Automation at Shell Canada Ltd. She holds an MSc in Process Automation from Telemark University College and a BSc in Automation and Electrical Engineering from The Arctic University of Norway.