Thorvald L. Mellingen is a Norwegian engineer.

He graduated from the Norwegian Institute of Technology

Norwegian Institute of Technology

The Norwegian Institute of Technology, known by its Norwegian abbrevation NTH was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 85 years, after which it was merged into the University of Trondheim as an independent...

 in 1961, and then worked in the companies Norsk Bergverk and Sydvaranger

Sydvaranger

Sydvaranger was the company that operated the Bjørnevatn Mine in Kirkenes, Norway between the start in 1906 until 1996. Since then the company has mainly been concerned with cleaning up the industrial areas and business development...

. He was then hired in Norsk Hydro

Norsk Hydro

Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. Hydro is the fourth largest integrated aluminium company worldwide. It has operations in some 40 countries around the world and is active on all continents. The Norwegian state holds a 43.8 percent...

 in 1965, and took further education at the Institut français du pétrole

Institut français du pétrole

The French Institute of Petroleum is a public research organisation in France founded in 1944 as Institute of Oil, Fuels and Lubricants ....

. In 1969 he went on to Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Forskningsråd. From 1976 to 1982 he worked in Saga Petroleum

Saga Petroleum

Saga Petroleum was a Norwegian upstream petroleum company established in 1972 that was acquired by Norsk Hydro in 1999. Since October 2007 it is a part of Statoil. The company was the only fully private oil company in Norway. It had partial ownership in 60 oil field licenses and was operator of 18...

, overseeing construction at the Sèmè

Seme

Seme may refer to:*Seme Border, a settlement in Nigeria on the border with Benin*Seme , a Maasai term for a type of lion hunting knife*Seme , Japanese martial arts term meaning to attack...

 oil field

Oil field

An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...

 in Benin

Benin

Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...

. In 1983 he was hired as assistant director of NUTEC

Nutec

Nutec AS is a Norwegian company working with security and preparedness for emergency exits, fire on oil rigs. Among the activities are education for oil rig workers....

. He was then CEO from 1984 to 1998, except for a period between 1991 and 1992 when he was CEO of Statoil Nigeria. From 2001 he was an advisor for the Angolan Ministry of Petroleum.

Mellingen has been a member of the board of the Norwegian Petroleum Society, and been involved in the Norwegian Support Committee for Chechnya

Norwegian Support Committee for Chechnya

-Organization:Non-partisan, its purpose is to "work for immediate, total and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian military forces [from Chechnya] and for the right of the Chechen people to autonomy"...

. He is a Knight of the Swedish Order of the Polar Star

Order of the Polar Star

The Order of the Polar Star is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim....

, and lives in Laksevåg

Laksevåg

Laksevåg is a borough of the city of Bergen, Norway.-Location:Laksevåg was separated from Askøy as a municipality of its own July 1, 1918. It was merged with Bergen January 1, 1972....

.