Conoco Phillips said Friday that Trond-Erik Johansen will become president of its Alaska operations as of April 1. Johansen has been president of Conoco's Southeast Asia Exploration and Production organization, based in Singapore, since 2008.

He will replace Jim Bowles as president of Conoco Phillips Alaska Inc. Bowles died in an avalanche while snowmachining on the Kenai Peninsula last month.

Johansen, a native of Norway, joined Conoco in 1986 in Stavanger, Norway, and he worked in petroleum engineering, project engineering and operations leadership positions there; and in Aberdeen, United Kingdom; New Orleans; Houston; and Jakarta, Indonesia.

Johansen has master's degrees in petroleum engineering from the Norwegian Institute of Technology and in business administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

After Bowles died, Conoco named Helene Harding, its vice president for North Slope operations and development, as interim head of the Alaska business.

Conoco is a major U.S. oil company and is the largest oil and gas producer in Alaska. It has major holdings in the North Slope and Cook Inlet regions.