Golar LNG’s chief technical officer Hugo Skar is leaving the company, becoming the second long-standing member of the midstream provider’s management team to exit in weeks.
LNG shipping players said Skar, who is credited as being instrumental in Golar’s floating storage and regasification unit business, has already stepped down.
Naval architect Skar joined Golar from what was then Bergesen in 2004 as vice president of project management in Oslo, and moved on to his most recent position in 2009.
Skar said “no comment” when contacted by TradeWinds on the reports.
Golar, which is due to release its first-quarter results on Thursday, after TradeWinds' press time, did not respond to requests for confirmation and further details on its staff movements.
Skar looks set to follow Golar’s senior vice president and head of shipping Marius Foss out the door.
Foss resigned from Golar in May and is widely reported to be joining John Fredriksen’s Flex LNG to head its chartering business, as the company’s speculative newbuildings are delivered.
New recruit
TradeWinds understands that former Affinity LNG broker Christopher Bergsland, who has been working independently for several months, will join Golar to take on the chartering role.
Industry sources said there is an internal shake-up at Golar under way as chief executive Iain Ross pushes ahead with the company’s floating LNG (FLNG) and gas-to-power plans.
A former WorleyParsons executive turned private consultant, Ross was appointed chief executive at Golar last September after something of a merry-go-round of faces in the top slot. He replaced stand-in chief executive Oscar Spieler, who has stayed on in an advisory role to assist with the delivery of Golar's first FLNG project in Cameroon.
Those who follow Golar, which recently hooked up with energy major BP on an FLNG project, say the company is moving away from its Norwegian roots to become a more corporate entity.
They hinted that this may partly explain the recent departures.
