Kværner hires Løken as new CEO

Karl-Petter Løken has been appointed president and chief executive officer for the international contracting company Kvaerner.

The company said Løken will start during the spring as soon as he has ended his current position as head of project development for the oil company Lundin Norway.

"He (Løken) has a strong understanding of the industry, he knows Kvaerner also from the customer side, and he has a wide experience in developing teams for high performance," said chairman of the board, Leif-Arne Langøy.

Løken (51) is educated as a civil engineer from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Since 1991, he has held key positions in the oil and gas industry for companies like Statoil, Aker Solutions and Lundin Norway. For many years, Løken was, in parallel with his industrial career, also a top league soccer player in Norway.

From 2011 to 2015, Løken was engineering manager for Lundin Norway's Edvard Grieg field development, where Kvaerner was the key contractor.

"I am looking forward to becoming a part of Kvaerner. I already know a bit about the organisation, the people and what they stand for. Over the past years, I have also been impressed by how Kvaerner has become recognised by international customers for being the contractor that always delivers as planned. The company's expertise, capacity and position is a strong base for continuing this systematic performance, and for simultaneously developing the business further," said Løken.

Kvaerner late in February announced that its former president and CEO Jan Arve Haugan was leaving to take up a new position as manager for Aker Energy. Kvaerner's EVP & CFO Idar Eikrem will continue as interim CEO until Løken takes up his position, the company said.