Statoil supremo Helge Lund is turning to a former British special agent to help guide the Norwegian state oil company’s ventures in the international arena, where it has been stung by scandals in the past.
The ex-head of the UK’s secret intelligence service MI6, Sir John McLeod Scarlett, has been appointed to a new Strategic Advisory Committee that will advise on international strategy in an apparent move to cover the company’s back as it navigates the risky oil and gas business overseas.
However, the James Bond-style figure, who led MI6 from 2004 to 2008, has hardly been immune from controversy himself during a colourful career in which he also chaired the UK government’s Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) before the 2003 invasion of Iraq by Allied forces.
The JIC was involved in compiling a disputed dossier outlining the threat of Iraq’s purported weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the war.
There were allegations that the evidence contained in the documents was “sexed up” to strengthen the case for military action, and government weapons expert David Kelly committed suicide in the wake of the scandal.
Scarlett was called to give evidence at the Hutton Inquiry set up to investigate Kelly’s death, at which he argued the wording of the dossier was consistent with the committee’s assessment of intelligence available at the time.
Statoil though is confident Scarlett, with earlier spying stints working for MI6 in Moscow, Nairobi and Paris, has the right credentials for participation in the advisory group, which has yet to be formally established.
“The advisory committee is part of our work to understand our surroundings and how this impacts us as a company,” said Statoil spokesman Baard Glad Pedersen.
“We aim to form a group with members from different backgrounds, including industry, government and other areas, who are able to give us as much useful input as possible.”
It may well be a preventive move by the company to avoid the kind of international scandals that have rocked it in the recent past, most notably the Iranian bribery case in 2003 that led to the resignation of Lund’s predecessor Olav Fjell.
As well as Scarlett, Statoil has enlisted Hassan Marican, former boss of Malaysia’s Petronas, and high-profile energy consultant David Goldwyn, who has previously worked for the US State Department.
The company aims to appoint another three members, with other candidates reported to include Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, who led ex-US president Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors.
“We believe we have been able to recruit members with broad geopolitical insight and with broad industry competence and insight,” Pedersen added.
The group will work primarily with Statoil’s global strategy and business development team, meeting three times a year.
However, Pedersen underlined it will have no decision-making role, leaving its members in no doubt over who is boss. His name is Lund. Helge Lund