Statoil Chairman Quits

The chairman of Statoil (STO) quit on Wednesday, the latest in a string of high level departures from the Norwegian oil firm since its chief executive was poached by rival BG Group (BRGXF) last October.

Chairman Svein Rennemo, who was criticised for not being ready to appoint a new CEO quickly when Helge Lund joined BG, will step down from July 1 while former ConocoPhillips (COP) CEO Jim Mulva has also decided to leave the board.

The moves follow the resignation of board members Grace Reksten Skaugen and Catherine Hughes, with the latter leaving to avoid a conflict of interest after marrying the chairman of BG.

Statoil has lost other key managers since October, including mergers and acquisitions specialist Katie Jackson, who was also poached by BG after Lund took over at the British gas producer.

Statoil's board eventually picked acting CEO Eldar Saetre to replace Lund and he has made strides in cutting costs as the slide in crude oil prices drains the Norwegian company's cash.

It said Rennemo will be replaced by Oeystein Loeseth, the former CEO of Swedish energy giant Vattenfall, a company that has faced years of criticism for its badly timed investments in Europe's energy markets.

Loeseth was the head of Dutch energy firm Nuon when Vattenfall bought it for 8.5 billion euros in 2009 and he then took the top job at the Swedish parent firm.

But the purchase was badly timed as Nuon's gas-burning capacity is often idle due to cheaper imported German wind or solar power. Swedish state-owned Vattenfall has written down billions of Nuon's value and the Swedish government came under fire for what has often been described as a disastrous deal. (Reporting by Balazs Koranyi