Senior management

Chris Spencer
Managing Director
Chris Spencer
Managing Director

Mr. Spencer joined DNO in 2017. Mr. Spencer previously served as the CEO of Rocksource ASA and in various commercial and technical roles at Royal Dutch Shell and BP. He is a Chartered Engineer with the Institution of Chemical Engineers in the United Kingdom. 

Erlend Einum
Chief Business Development Officer
Erlend Einum
Chief Business Development Officer

Mr. Einum joined DNO in 2024, coming from an executive position at Waldorf Production. Prior to this, he spent 16 years at Pareto Securities, where he was a senior partner in the firm’s investment banking division. He holds a finance degree from the Norwegian School of Economics.

Elisabeth Femsteinevik
General Manager
DNO North Sea
Elisabeth Femsteinevik
General Manager
DNO North Sea

Ms. Femsteinevik joined DNO in 2019. She previously served in managerial roles at Faroe Petroleum and Equinor. She holds a geoscience degree from the University of Oslo.

Tonje Pareli Gormley
General Counsel - Middle East
Tonje Pareli Gormley
General Counsel - Middle East

Ms. Gormley joined DNO in 2018. She was previously a partner in Arntzen de Besche law firm. She holds a law degree from the University of Oslo and a diploma in law from the London Metropolitan University.

Sameh Hanna
General Manager
Kurdistan region of Iraq
Sameh Hanna
General Manager
Kurdistan region of Iraq

Mr. Hanna joined DNO in 2022. He previously served as President of MI-SWACO worldwide and in various other operational and managerial roles at Schlumberger. Mr. Hanna holds a Bachelor of Science in Electronics from Ain Shams University, Cairo, and has completed management education programs at MIT Sloan, Lausanne School of Economics and Harvard University.

Baton Haxhimehmedi
Group Head of Finance
Baton Haxhimehmedi
Group Head of Finance

Mr. Haxhimehmedi joined DNO in 2017 after having previously served as a state authorized public accountant and audit manager in KPMG and senior associate in Ernst & Young mainly working with international upstream oil and gas clients. He holds a Master in Accounting and Auditing and a Bachelor of Science in Business and Economics from the Norwegian Business School (BI).

Linn Hoel
Chief Commercial Officer
Linn Hoel
Chief Commercial Officer

Ms. Hoel joined DNO in 2024, coming from a position as corporate advisor with MP Energy Advisory. She previously served in managerial roles at Wintershall Dea and Equinor. Ms. Hoel holds a law degree from the University of Oslo.

Wieske Paulissen
Group Head of Exploration and Subsurface
Wieske Paulissen
Group Head of Exploration and Subsurface

Dr. Paulissen joined DNO in 2014. Dr. Paulissen previously worked as an exploration geoscientist for ExxonMobil. She holds a PhD and a Master of Science Degree from the University of Delft in Petroleum Engineering and Geosciences.

Haakon Sandborg
Chief Financial Officer
Haakon Sandborg
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Sandborg joined DNO in 2001. In addition to his oil and gas experience, he has a background in banking, including positions at DNB Bank. Mr. Sandborg holds a Master of Business Administration from the Norwegian School of Business Administration. 

Geir Arne Skau
Chief Human Resources and Corporate Services Officer
Geir Arne Skau
Chief Human Resources and Corporate Services Officer

Mr. Skau joined DNO in 2019. Mr. Skau previously served in the Norwegian Armed Forces and in various human resources leadership roles at TechnipFMC. He was educated at the Norwegian Military Academy.

Erling Moen Synnes
Chief Information Officer
Erling Moen Synnes
Chief Information Officer

Mr. Synnes joined DNO in 2019 having previously held managerial roles in various IT companies, most recently as Vice President Global IT in PGS. Mr. Synnes has a Master of Science degree in Technical Cybernetics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Kjersti Kaurin
Corporate Counsel and Secretary
Kjersti Kaurin
Corporate Counsel and Secretary

Ms. Kaurin joined DNO in 2019 with broad petroleum and corporate law experience from various law firms. She holds a Master of Law degree from the University of Oslo and has attended the Advanced LLM Programme in Energy Law offered by the Universities of Groningen, Oslo, Aberdeen and Copenhagen.