In his first full year as Equinor CEO, Anders Opedal received a total payout of $2.055 million, or just over 18.1 million crowns. out of the company Annual Report which was published on Friday.
The base salary makes up just over half of the total, while the variables make up 32 percent, the report notes.
In second place directly behind the CEO is the head of international operations for Equinor, UK company Al Cook, which earned NOK 16.8 million. Here, variable items make up nearly half of the total wage.
took after Sætre
Opedal took over the management of the company after Eldar Sætre in November 2020. That year he earned NOK 6.9 million, while Sætre received taxable compensation of just over NOK 10 million.
The CEO’s variable salary is determined by his performance according to a number of criteria, which include safety, carbon dioxide intensity of production, return to shareholders and return on capital employed.
On the earnings front, last year was rarely profitable for Equinor, which benefited from higher commodity prices, particularly gas and especially in the second half of the year. In both the third and fourth quarters, the company posted new earnings records. For the year as a whole, profit after tax ended up at $8.6 billion, roughly 76 billion kronor, a huge turnaround from a loss of $5.5 billion in 2020. When Obedal presented the last quarterly report in February, he also announced Distribution of dividends to shareholders.
4.3 million variable salaries
In 2021, the variable portion of Obidal’s salary amounted to NOK 4.3 million. In the annual report, the Board reviews the achievement of Obidal’s goal in each of the criteria. Among other things, the board notes that the frequency of critical accidents has fallen to the lowest level in the company’s history, and the average carbon footprint has decreased.
The year has been affected by the epidemic, but the markets have shown a good ability to recover, with high volatility. The ability to take advantage of varying prices in the markets was a focus area in the board’s evaluation of the CEO,” the board writes, indicating that return to shareholders was better than target with respect to comparable companies.
On the other hand, the board notes that employee satisfaction is declining, Dagens Næringsliv wrote last year. DN wrote in December that the first employee survey after Opidal implemented major changes to the organization showed that trust in the group’s management was at a low level.
“The overall organizational change as well as the strategic adjustments made to better align the company’s objectives in the energy transition have been evident throughout the year. Overall satisfaction among employees showed a negative trend. This points to the importance of an increased focus on adapting the organization to the change agenda and identifying areas for improvement,” the board writes in the annual report.
Earlier this month, director of human resources Ana Fonseca Nordang, who played a pivotal role in the reorganization, left management of the group and took up a position in renewables. Then DN wrote that it was the subject of one internal audit for six months on charges of harassment and abuse of power. It was not known at the time whether this investigation had been completed. (Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and/or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases using a link that leads directly to our pages. All or part of the Content may not be copied or otherwise used with written permission or as permitted by law. For additional terms look here.
“Explorer. Unapologetic entrepreneur. Alcohol fanatic. Certified writer. Wannabe tv evangelist. Twitter fanatic. Student. Web scholar. Travel buff.”
