Haugan resigns as Kvaerner CEO to lead Aker Energy

Jan Arve Haugan has resigned from his position of president and CEO of Kvaerner, to begin his new role, effective March 1 as CEO of the newly established oil company Aker Energy, EPC company Kvaerner said.

Idar Eikrem, executive vice president and chief financial officer in Kvaerner, is appointed as the interim CEO, the company said.

Haugan has been president and CEO with Kvaerner since its demerger from Aker Solutions and stock listing in the summer of 2011.

"Under Jan Arve Haugan's management, Kvaerner has developed into a leading, renowned oil service company with EPC services as our specialty,” said chairman of the board, Leif-Arne Langøy. “Competitiveness, project execution and, ultimately, the results, have continued to improve. In a demanding market cycle, Kvaerner has with Jan Arve at the helm delivered god results for 26 consecutive quarters, without negative surprises at any of them.”

"With the emergence of Aker Energy, a new exciting opportunity materialised, Haugan said. “In my opinion, it is a good time to hand over the torch to others. The company is solid. Kvaerner's biggest strength is its 2700 employees, a fantastic group of people, a solid corporate culture and two well-run facilities at Stord and in Verdal."

The board of Kvaerner has engaged an executive search company to assist in finding the right successor to further develop Kvaerner.

"We will evaluate both internal and external candidates. Until a new leader is in place, Idar Eikrem will be the interim CEO," said chairman of the board, Langøy.

Eikrem (55) joined Kvaerner in April 2016 as executive vice president and CFO. He has comprehensive experience from a variety of top management positions, including financial management and turn-around processes. He holds a M.Sc. in economics and business administration from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration in Bergen, Norway.