Erika Tovar, Halliburton Country Manager, Tananger, Norway; to receive international industry leadership award
Energy security affects our operations every day | Interview | BI
Energy security affects our operations every day
Despite an impressive career and a master’s degree in management, Erika Tovar wanted to learn more. For leaders in the energy industry, geopolitics is high on the agenda.
Halliburton’s Norwegian office is located in the green surroundings of Tananger, just outside Stavanger. Erika Tovar has been based here since 2023, but her journey began as a teenager in Colombia. At just 16, she left the city of Garzón for the Colombian capital, Bogotá, to study petroleum engineering. She has just learned that she will receive an international industry award for her leadership. “There were no limits at home to what women could achieve. I have never doubted that I belong in this industry, and I step into my role with confidence. That is an attitude I try to pass on to my teams,” says Tovar.
When Tovar came to Norway in 2023, she joined Halliburton as Country Manager. She later took on regional responsibility for Europe, Eurasia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Photo: Elisabeth Tønnesen.
Norway plays an important role
When Erika began the Executive Master of Management in Energy (EMME) at BI Norwegian Business School, her aim was to gain a broader understanding of the energy system. Before completing the programme, she moved into a new role as Regional Manager for Health, Safety, Environment and Service Quality, with responsibility for Europe, Eurasia and Sub-Saharan Africa. “The programme made the transition to a regional leadership role easier. It has sharpened my strategic perspective and made me better at making decisions under uncertainty using multidisciplinary frameworks. It has also given me a structured overview of the energy landscape, connecting oil and gas operations with renewable energy, power markets, geopolitics and risk.” Geopolitical instability and a changing energy market are placing new demands on leaders, particularly in the energy industry. “Energy security affects our operations every day, and Norway plays an important role as a reliable energy supplier to Europe. This reinforces the need for safe and efficient operations,” she says, referring to her new role. Interest in BI’s energy master’s programme has grown in step with world events. Classes have never been larger, and the programme has evolved from focusing largely on markets and state ownership to making geopolitical risk a central theme.
Geopolitics now plays a much greater role in energy education than it did ten years ago. Today, security of supply, political risk and critical evaluation of sources are among the key topics. Photo: Elisabeth Tønnesen.
Crisis measures, politics and analysis
“Before 2014, many people saw the oil and energy market as a question of supply and demand: one large, shared bathtub where it hardly mattered who sold to whom,” says Nick Sitter, Professor of Political Economy at BI and one of Norway’s leading experts on geopolitics and energy. That year, Saudi Arabia opened the taps in competition with the Americans, causing oil prices to plunge at the same time as Russia invaded Crimea. “We were given a brutal reminder that it is not only the oil price that rises and falls. Political decisions by major players, geopolitics and the use of energy in politics also matter. Since then, we have seen how vulnerable the oil and gas market can be to factors such as supply disruptions,” says Sitter. An academic discussion might, for example, examine temporary crisis measures such as cutting off a gas supply, and whether the measure really is temporary or in fact represents a lasting change. “We spend a lot of time looking at how to interpret what is happening. Participants have to work out which sources to use and what is propaganda, and we give them tools to develop independent analyses. This has become much more important than it was ten years ago, when the programme was primarily about understanding a market. In that sense, the teaching has changed quite dramatically,” says Sitter.
Nick Sitter is Professor of Political Economy at BI and one of Norway’s leading experts on geopolitics and energy.
Erika Tovar’s class included participants of 20 different nationalities, with women making up 52 per cent of the cohort, creating a valuable exchange of perspectives. The class brought together engineers moving into their first leadership role and experienced leaders with 10–15 years in oil, gas, renewables and finance. Most come from different parts of the energy industry, while a growing number come from other energy-intensive industries. “When you have participants from many different countries, from both the public and private sectors, there is a lot of enthusiasm and some excellent discussions. We have seen enormous interest in geopolitics and have had some large classes recently,” says Nick Sitter. Navigating international waters and encountering different perspectives is something Erika Tovar knows well. “One of the most challenging aspects of the role is leading across a diverse region with different operating environments. Aligning teams around safety and service quality requires consistent communication and trust,” she says, adding: “Right now, I am working extensively on a regional initiative to strengthen our safety culture and service quality. This involves close dialogue with the leadership teams to ensure that priorities are translated into action across the organisation.” Drawing on her international perspective, she believes Norway has a mature energy market where safety, operational discipline and technology are highly valued. “What I value most is contributing to a culture where employees feel safe speaking up and taking action when it comes to safety,” she says.
Executive Master of Management in Energy
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This article was produced by DNX Studio for BI