Our Management Team in Norway
The company’s 13-strong Management Team brings decades of expertise and experience.
The Management Team for Wintershall Dea in Norway steer the day-to-day course of the business, bringing decades of experience to their roles. Separating the core business functions between exploration, major development projects, operated production and non-operated assets, the Management Team is also represented by leaders who shepherd the experience of other colleagues vital to the ongoing success of the company. Leaders in reservoir management and engineering, strategy and new ventures and HSEQ are joined on the team by managers supporting the business in finance, human resources and communications.
Michael Zechner
Managing Director
Zechner began his career in the Wintershall graduate programme, working in Argentina and Germany, before taking on a role as a senior geophysicist in Norway. Since then, the Austrian has held various technical and management positions in numerous fields including as an Unconventional Operations Manager in Argentina and Head of Merger Integration Planning for the global merger between Wintershall and Dea. Before starting his current role, he was Wintershall Dea’s Senior Vice President for Global Exploration. He became MD of Wintershall Dea Norge in March 2022. Zechner holds a diploma (Dipl.-Ing) in Applied Geosciences from the University of Leoben, Austria and a postgraduate degree in Petroleum Economics from the Technological Institute of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
I expect Wintershall Dea to be one of the leading gas and oil companies in Norway, operating both the whole length of the value chain and the whole length of the Norwegian Continental Shelf. My job is to help inspire the amazing team we have in Norway to reach our ambitions.
Ole Martin Dahle
Vice President HSEQ
Dahle has more than 15 years of experience in a variety of leadership and management roles calling for a strong HSE mindset and delivery focus. Early in his career he was a process engineer in IGL Oil & Gas Consultants, spending several years working for Marathon Petroleum and later becoming the Operations Team leader in E.ON and then DEA Norge. He was the Facilities & Development Technology Manager in DEA before becoming head of HSEQ at Wintershall Dea in Norway. Dahle has a master’s in Offshore Technology from the University of Stavanger.
Roy Davies
Vice President Exploration
Davies started his career in 2004 at the Schlumberger Research Centre in Boston, before moving to Norway to join Rocksource ASA in 2005. In 2009 he joined E.ON E&P Norge, before moving to London to become Chief Geologist for E.ON in 2013. Since January 2016 he has held various positions in the exploration department of DEA Norge, before joining the new Management Team of Wintershall Dea in Norway after the merger in 2019. He holds a BSc and a PhD in Geology from the University of Liverpool.
Christian Ritzmann
Vice President Finance
Christian has broad international experience in the oil and gas upstream business and spent more than half of his career outside his native Germany in various positions. From 1998, he spent four years in Preussag Energie in Germany before moving to Tunisia as a Financial Controller for OMV, then to Romania as Head of Reporting and Co-ordination for OMV/Petrom. He joined DEA in 2009, enjoying spells as Expert in Subsidiaries Accounting and Head of Business Controlling in Hamburg, and Finance and Information Services Manager in Norway. After the merger with Wintershall in May 2019, Christian became Vice President for Finance for BU Egypt. He joined Wintershall Dea Norge in June 2021. Christian has a degree in Business Management Studies from Osnabrück in Germany.
Ronny Hanssen
Vice President Strategy and New Ventures
Hanssen, who joined DEA in June 2017, has 20 years of experience spanning the entire value chain of the oil and gas business. He has worked as Asset Manager for the Dvalin and Snorre fields as well as leading the digitalisation activities in DEA Norge. Prior to joining DEA, Hanssen worked with asset management and new ventures in the private equity owned Core Energy/Point Resources. He also has several years’ domestic and international experience working for Total with operations management and large-scale projects in Norway, France, Angola and North America. Hanssen holds an MSc from the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTNU) and an Executive MBA from BI Norwegian Business School.
Synnøve Helland
Vice President Non-Operated Assets
Synnøve Helland has broad oil and gas industry experience from DEA Norge and Equinor where she spent 20 years in key senior management roles across the entire E&P value chain. After graduating from NTNU with an MSC in Engineering Geology, she worked with civil construction and project management before joining Equinor, covering project management and management roles in e.g Field Development, Pipeline Construction, Partner Operated Assets, Project portfolio and Offshore Wind. Helland joined DEA Norge Management team in 2017, as the head of Non-Operated development and production assets. She is now the VP of Non-Operated Assets for Wintershall Dea in Norway.
Daniel Ørbeck
Vice President Production
Daniel has 20 years’ experience as an E&P professional in Norway, working on various projects and fields from discovery to decommissioning. He started his career in Aker Solutions before joining Equinor (then Statoil) as a corporate trainee. After various international positions at Equinor he joined Wintershall Dea in 2013, filling several roles in asset management, drilling and wells, improvement programmes and change management. He became Vice President for Operated Production in 2022. Daniel has a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Stavanger and a MBA from the Norwegian Business School.
Janne Lea
Vice President Reservoir Management Development and Engineering
Lea has a broad experience of management positions within the Norwegian oil and gas industry, primarily in the area of HSE. Before joining Wintershall Dea, she had various leadership roles in Mærsk Drilling and the Norwegian safety regulator PSA, later becoming the Head of HSEQ for Wintershall Norge. Lea has experience in HSE, occupational health & safety, chemical risk management, quality assurance and regulatory development, audits and supervision activities. She holds an MSc in Offshore Technology specialisation within Environmental Technology from University of Stavanger (UiS).
Tina Endresen
Vice President Legal and Compliance
Early in her career, Endresen spent three years practising in two Bergen law firms, in-between working as an associate professor at the Norwegian School of Economics. She later joined the law firm Kluge in Stavanger, practising mainly corporate law before being seconded to the legal team within BP Norge for a year and a half, where she focused mainly on the area of petroleum law. In June 2011, she joined Wintershall Norge, later becoming Head of Legal before taking over as Head of Legal and Compliance for Wintershall Dea in Norway. She graduated with a law degree in 1996.
Tone Samuelsen
Vice President HR
Over the last 20 years, Samuelsen has held senior management positions in Stavanger Kommune, Telia, SpareBank 1 SR-Bank and Stavanger Aftenblad, always emphasising the importance of obtaining, developing and retaining expertise. She has helped foster a positive attitude toward organisational objectives and served as a link between management and employees. She was Head of HR at Wintershall Norge before assuming the same role at Wintershall Dea. Samuelsen has a master of Management from the Norwegian School of Management in Stavanger.
Bjorn Tore Viste Solheim
Vice President Commercial
Viste Solheim started his career as a gas and midstream negotiator with BP. He went on to hold several senior positions within BP in the UK and Norway, including Performance Manager and Manager for Business Development and Commercial. In 2013 he joined E.ON in a global role as General Manager Commercial. Through the two mergers, first with DEA, then Wintershall, Viste Solheim went on to lead the commercial team for Wintershall Dea Norge and was appointed as Vice President of Commercial in 2021. Viste Solheim has a Master’s in Economics from the University of Bergen.
Peter Schwarz
Vice President Communications
Schwarz has a wide breadth of communications and stakeholder experience, as a consultant and executive in the oil and gas and energy industries. He began his career as a communications advisor at the University of Stavanger before joining Wintershall in 2014. Later, he was the Head of Corporate Communications at Lyse Group and an account director for Renewable Energy and Sustainability at the consultancy Gambit Hill+Knowlton. He is a former county politician and sits on several boards including Young Entrepreneurship Rogaland, which he chairs. He joined Wintershall Dea Norge in March 2022. Schwarz has a BA in Business Administration, Political Science and Social Economics, and an MA in Health Economics and Management from the University of Oslo.
