Norway's biggest oil producer, Statoil, has named Helge Lund as its chief executive, almost six months after corruption allegations forced three top Statoil officials to step down.

Statoil, Norway's biggest oil and gas firm, has confirmed that its chief executive Olav Fjell has resigned because of a police probe into possible corruption in the group's dealings with Iran.

Statoil ASA said it sees closer collaboration between Norway and Russia over energy resources in the far north and will carry out extensive seismic surveys in the Barents Sea.