Who Is Anders Opedal, Equinor’s CEO?

Last updated: October 26, 2026

Anders Opedal is a Norwegian engineer and energy executive who has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Equinor, Norway’s state-controlled energy company, since November 2, 2020. A career Equinor employee, Opedal rose through engineering, procurement and technology leadership roles over more than two decades before being named CEO, making him the first engineer by background to lead the company.

Current Position

Opedal is President and CEO of Equinor ASA, based at the company’s headquarters in Stavanger, Norway. He reports to Equinor’s board of directors, chaired since July 2026 by Jarle Roth. As CEO, Opedal is responsible for Equinor’s global oil and gas, renewables and low-carbon strategy, including the pace of the company’s investment between hydrocarbons and new energy.

Education

• Master’s degree in Engineering — Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
• Master of Business Administration (MBA) — Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Career Timeline

Note: some secondary sources also cite earlier experience at Baker Hughes; Equinor’s own public materials do not detail this period, so it is noted here for completeness but not treated as independently confirmed.

Previous Roles at Equinor/Statoil

Before becoming CEO, Opedal was one of four internal candidates considered for the role. His most recent position prior to CEO was Chief Operating Officer and head of Technology, Projects and Drilling (TPD), the unit responsible for Equinor’s major project execution, including offshore platforms, subsea developments and drilling operations worldwide. Earlier in his career he held leadership roles in the company’s Brazil operations and served as Chief Procurement Officer, overseeing supply chain strategy across Equinor’s global portfolio.

Major Energy Projects

As COO and later CEO, Opedal has overseen project execution and capital allocation across Equinor’s largest developments, including:

• Johan Sverdrup — one of the largest oil fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf
• Dogger Bank — the world’s largest offshore wind farm under construction in the UK North Sea
• Empire Wind 1 — offshore wind project off New York, resumed construction in 2026 after US permitting litigation
• Northern Lights — CO2 transport and storage joint venture with TotalEnergies and Shell
• Rosebank — UK oil field sanctioned in 2023 with partners Suncor and Ithaca Energy

Board Memberships

Equinor’s public leadership materials do not list outside public-company board seats for Opedal as of October 2026; his primary governance role is as an executive director reporting to Equinor’s own board, which he does not chair. This section will be updated if a reliable public filing documents an external board appointment.

Current Responsibilities

Opedal leads Equinor’s executive committee and is accountable to the board, now chaired by Jarle Roth, for the company’s financial performance, safety record, and the balance of investment between oil and gas and lower-carbon businesses such as offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture.

Related Companies and People

• Equinor ASA — company profile, ownership and projects
• Wael Sawan — CEO, Shell plc
• Patrick Pouyanné — Chairman & CEO, TotalEnergies (Northern Lights co-partner)
• Michael K. Wirth — Chairman & CEO, Chevron

Net Worth

No reliable public estimate of Anders Opedal’s personal net worth is available from Forbes, Bloomberg or comparable sources. Equinor discloses his annual compensation (salary, pension and incentive pay) in its annual report, but compensation figures are not the same as net worth, and TheDailyEnergy does not estimate personal wealth from company value or salary alone.

Latest News

• Equinor resumed construction on the Empire Wind 1 project in early 2026 after a US court granted a preliminary injunction against a federal stop-work order.
• Jarle Roth became Equinor’s new board chair effective July 1, 2026, changing part of the governance structure Opedal reports into.

Sources

• Equinor ASA — official “About us” leadership pages and company history materials (equinor.com), accessed October 2026
• Equinor press materials and speaker biographies (e.g., Equinor Autumn Conference speaker CVs)
• Reuters and S&P Global Commodity Insights coverage of Opedal’s appointment as CEO, 2020
• Equinor press release on 2026 board chair election

Illustrative image / Temsilî görsel / صورة تعبيرية

Illustrative image. Photo: Gary Bembridge from London, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — source