Board of Directors

Per Arne Jensen (1964) – Chairman of the Board

Per Arne Jensen is a Partner in the Private Equity company Progressus Management AS. During the period 1999-2006, he was Managing Director of Figgjo AS, an internationally renowned porcelain manufacturer. Before that Per Arne Jensen was Vice President of the IT Company Computer Advances Group ASA and has also experience from IRIS (formerly Rogaland Research). Per Arne Jensen holds an M.Sc. in business administration within finance and an M.Sc. in software development. Per Arne Jensen is Chairman of the Board for the Norwegian Design Council and Member of the Board for the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture. 

Svein Ilebekk (1954) – Member of the Board 

Svein Ilebekk is one of the founders of Agora Oil & Gas AS (2009) and holds the position as CEO in the company. Svein graduated from the University of Oslo, Department of Geology, in 1981 (Master of Science) and has since then worked for different oil companies (Saga, DNO, Amoco and Revus Energy, Wintershall) as well as a consultant geologist. Svein was founder of one of the larger Norwegian subsurface consultant companies in 1995, “Jepsen, Sørensen & Ilebekk”, which was taken over by Aker in 1998. Svein was also one of the founders of Revus (2002) in which his main responsibility as Exploration Manager was to develop the company’s exploration portfolio which was acquired through organic growth (concession rounds) and farm-in opportunities. Several of the prospects in the license portfolio proved to be discoveries; - “Astero”, “Luno”, “Jordbær”, “Gnatcatcher” and “B-structure”. Revus was in December 2008 acquired by Wintershall for NOK 5 billion.

Noel D.F. Hammonds (1948) – Member of the Board 

Noel Hammonds is currently a consultant with add consulting as in add energy group. Noel holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree (Siviløkonom) and is a Chartered Accountant. He is on the board of directors of a number of privately held companies in Norway. Noel was educated in New Zealand where he started his career in banking and industry. In 1978, he moved to Norway and has worked within commercial and contracts management on a number of major capital investment projects for both operators and engineering contractors. Noel also has extensive experience from drilling operations.

Ådne Grødem (1965) – Member of the Board

Ådne Grødem is a Partner in the Private Equity company Progressus Management AS. During the period 2001-2006, he was Chief Financial Officer of Roxar ASA. Ådne has also held the positions as both Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer in the oil service company Norwegian Applied Technology ASA (NAT) during the period 1995-2000. Ådne has broad experience from commercialization processes, mergers, acquisitions and IPO’s. He holds an MBA from the Norwegian School of Management and a BBA from California Lutheran University, USA.

Shane McElroy (1968) - Member of the Board

Shane McElroy is an oil and gas consultant with Qittitut Consulting LLC. Shane holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree (sivilingeniør) and a Master Degree in Engineering Management. During the period 2005-2009 Shane was a partner in a Norwegian venture capital company  investing  in the oil and gas technology and service sector. He has broad experience with mergers and acquisitions, commercialization and business development. He has held various line management positions in the oil and gas industry globally and senior positions in a large New Zealand based diversified corporation.