John Wood Group plc, the Aberdeen-based engineering and consulting giant, said Henrik Melsom has been appointed Senior Vice President of Wood’s Norwegian operations, tasked with growing the business within oil and gas, new energy solutions and process industries.

Energy security, decarbonisation and lifetime extension of offshore and onshore assets represent the majority of Wood’s Norwegian business.

Wood has 900 employees in Norway, spread across offices in Bergen, Stavanger, Sandefjord, Porsgrunn and Oslo.

“I think we are somewhat of a hidden secret in Norway,” said Melsom.

“Potential employees are positively surprised when they learn about the complexity of the projects we are involved with from Norway. Recruitment across all our offices will be a key focus area going forward.”

Wood supports clients including Gassco with operations and maintenance of gas terminals in Europe, and Equinor with modifications and engineering, to extend the life of their offshore platforms in Norway, the UK and Brazil.

Within the process industry, Wood’s Norwegian business is involved in a number of energy transition projects, including offshore wind, biofuels, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.

Process industry powerhouses Yara and Ineos are among the Norwegian operation’s customers.

Ellis Renforth, Wood’s President of Operations, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: “Having Henrik step into the leadership role will give our Norway business real focus, allowing us to continue building on recent growth.

“This is an exciting time for Wood in Norway, supporting clients with new energy transition projects that will make an impact across the region, as well as continuing to decarbonise and extend the life of oil and gas assets, critical to energy security.”

Prior to joining Wood in 2019, Melsom held a variety of positions at Aker Solutions including Vice President of Service Engineering Governance where he was responsible for new services, operational support, digitalisation strategy, and technical governance.