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Statoil

When Helge Lund took over as Statoil CEO last August, he inherited a company racked by the worst bribery and influence-peddling scandal in Norway's history. The affair was all the more embarrassing because the government is the biggest shareholder in the oil and gas company. Lund was brought in from Norwegian engineering and construction firm Aker Kvaerner to clean things up--and he wasted no time.

Prosecutors alleged Statoil used consultants to funnel bribes to Iranian officials and engaged in influence peddling. So Lund charged his executive committee with beefing up ethics guidelines to restore Statoil's credibility. Statoil pledged to disclose payments to foreign governments, and it encouraged use of an ethics hotline for employees to report suspected abuses of authority. The company also agreed to pay a €2.5 million fine in the case last October--without admitting any guilt. Statoil's impressive performance, driven in part by high oil prices, has helped investors forget. Net income jumped 51% in 2004, to €3 billion, on sales of €42 billion. First-quarter income jumped 44%.

Lund now wants the outfit's annual oil production to grow 8% a year through 2007. Statoil launched its expansion plan in April by buying the Mexican deepwater oil operations of EnCana Corp. for €1.6 billion. It's all part of a strategy to make sure Statoil no longer has anything to be ashamed of.