Helle Østergaard Kristiansen

Kristiansen presided over Danske Commodities, which is owned by Norwegian major Equinor, during a chaotic and historic year for the oil sector. In 2020, energy demand dropped, while lockdowns and reopenings produced what she dryly called an “unusual year” for the company’s energy trading business across gas and renewables. In that same year, trading income and revenue nonetheless stayed almost completely stable. Despite the pandemic, Kristiansen has led a strategy of global expansion—particularly to the U.S.—and negotiated a purchase agreement with what will be one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms, off the coast of the U.K. This year looks to be just as interesting: Reopenings have caused demand to surge, while the early autumn gas crisis in Europe has produced spiraling prices and worries about winter shortages.

Subscribe to The Broadsheet, our newsletter on the world’s most powerful women.