Remi Eriksen: Proud and Confident
After 22 years of service with DNV GL, Remi Eriksen has been appointed Group President and CEO.
“I’m really proud to work for this company, and why am I so proud? First of all, I’m proud of its history and its purpose. What can be better to work for than a company with a really strong purpose. For more than 150 years, DNV GL has lived its purpose of safeguarding life, property and the environment, and built through this purpose very strong positions in many different industries.”
Eriksen also voiced his pride in the people of DNV GL. “I’ve lived in the west and I’ve lived in the east, and the feedback that I get from our customers is that our competence, our expertise and our people is highly relevant and sought after. But, of course, past success is not guaranteeing future success.”
Talking of the market, he says the outlook is weak, with the potential exception of some sectors such as tankers, the cruise market, mid-size LPG and some container segments. “It will be around 2017 before DNV GL’s own activity will increase again.”
There are challenging market developments in both the maritime and oil and gas industries. “DNV GL will not remain unaffected, but I have strong confidence in our ability to constantly improve and develop our services. Even in tough markets, there will be a need for expert advice and services that can help improve efficiency, qualify new cost-effective technologies, and that can help drive standardization of specifications and work processes – just to mention a few examples. In the energy sector and the business assurance market, I expect positive development in the next few years,” says Eriksen.
“The oil and gas industry is really at a crossroads,” he says, due to low oil prices and cost increases. “For more than 100 years, the industry has provided the fundamentals for keeping electricity and transportation for society, and they have been doing that to meet the expectations of operating safely and responsibly and also managing the environmental impact of these activities.
“Now the industry is facing a different order of challenge – it is to manage the global consequences of the very use of hydrocarbons. For many in the oil and gas industry it will be worse before it gets better. I’m afraid we will see the latter part of 2016 before things are trending in the right direction again. For rigs, I think it will take even longer. We will see 2018 at the earliest,” says Eriksen.
“I believe the future will be characterized by a very complex and fast-changing world and a period of slower global growth. However, the world economy is still on track to more than double in size over the next 40 years. I see a future where trusted independent parties are increasingly needed to enable safe and responsible business performance and sustainable value chains.
“In this context, DNV GL’s innovation capabilities, as well as our role as a standard setter and driver of joint industry collaborations, will be an increasingly relevant strength. It will be important for me that we continue our investments in people, R&D and innovation to develop new thinking, insights and solutions to the benefit of our customers and society,” Eriksen says.
Eriksen is a Norwegian citizen and has a Masters degree in Electronics and Computer Science from the Norwegian Institute of Technology and has had executive education at Rice University, IMD and INSEAD. In the course of his career he has published many professional papers and articles.
He brings wide experience from the oil, gas and maritime industry in Norway, Brazil, the U.S., Middle East and Asia Pacific to the role and has extensive experience in leading change in a global, multi-cultural environment to capture growth opportunities.
Eriksen’s technical expertise lies within maritime and offshore technology as well as gas value chains. He has initiated and managed several joint industry projects in the offshore and marine domain to develop new technology and risk based decision models for design of complex systems.
During the period 2006-2010 Eriksen was a member of the OG21 Board of Norway – a board appointed by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy tasked with the responsibility to develop and implement a common national technology strategy for Norway.
“I am very humble and thankful for the opportunity to lead this company I have worked for the past 22 years,” says Eriksen.
“These have been fantastic years, giving me opportunities to develop,” he says. “This variety of challenges is a great feature of the company. Since I joined in January 1993, the company has grown exceptionally.”
Leif-Arne Langøy, Chairman of the Board of DNV GL Group says; “In addition to his strong performance in managing the integration of DNV and GL, Eriksen has deep knowledge of our core markets and key industry technologies. Not least, he has displayed an acknowledged ability to foresee industry challenges and drive responsive solutions.”
Eriksen is succeeding Henrik O. Madsen, who is retiring on August 1.
“As Henrik O. Madsen is retiring after more than 30 years of service with us, the last nine years as Group President and CEO, I want to sincerely thank him for his commitment and extraordinary achievements in heading the company towards the world-leading positions we are in today,” says Langøy.