Statoil ASA, trading as Statoil and formerly known as StatoilHydro, is a Norwegian oil and gas company, formed by the 2007 merger of Statoil with the oil and gas division of Norsk Hydro.^[2] The Government of Norway is the largest shareholder in Statoil with 67% of the shares. The ownership interest is managed by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.^[3]

Statoil is a fully integrated petroleum company with production operations in thirteen countries and retail operations in eight. By revenue Statoil is in 2010 ranked by Fortune Magazine as the world's 13th largest oil and gas company, and the largest company in the Nordic region by revenue, profit, and market capitalization.^[4]

Operations[link]

Upstream oil, gas, and biofuel operations[link]

Statoil is the largest operator on the Norwegian continental shelf, with 60% of the total production. The fields operated are Brage, Heimdal, Grane, Glitne, Gullfaks, Heidrun, Huldra, Kristin, Kvitebjørn, Mikkel, Njord, Norne, Ormen Lange, Oseberg, Sleipner, Snorre, Snøhvit, Statfjord, Sygna, Tordis, Troll, Veslefrikk, Vigdis, Visund, Volve and Åsgard. The company also has processing plants at Kolsnes, Kårstø, Mongstad, Tjeldbergodden and Melkøya.

In addition to the Norwegian continental shelf, Statoil operates oil and gas fields in Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, China, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Russia, United States and Venezuela. Statoil has offices that are looking for possible ventures in the countries of Egypt, Mexico, Qatar and United Arab Emirates. The company has processing plants in Belgium, Denmark, France and Germany. In 2006, Statoil was approved to implement the world's largest carbon sequestration project as a means to mitigate carbon emissions to the atmosphere.^{[citation needed]}

Statoil is a signatory participant of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.

In September 2007, Statoil and the Brazilian oil company Petrobras signed a deal aimed at expanding exploration, sub-sea and bio-fuels cooperation. With the acquisition of Hydro Statoil became a partner in Brazil's offshore Peregrino oil field, which commenced operation in 2010. Under the agreement Statoil became a partner on six offshore licenses, as well as expanding biofuels production. Petrobras and Statoil announced plans to create dozens of refineries in Brazil and the rest of the world where vegetable oil will be added to crude to create a no-sulphur fuel.

On 4 March 2008, Statoil bought Anadarko Petroleum Corporation's 50% share of the Peregrino oil field for 1.8 billion USD.^[5] At the time of acquiring the license, the field's recovery factor was estimated to be 9%. However, with the current reservoir depletion plan of the field calling for the use of produced water injection and rock compaction, Peregrino's recovery factor has increased to 20%.^[6] On November 4, 2009 Statoil executive VP Peter Mellbye stated that Statoil could reduce its 100% stake in the project. On 24 May 2010, Statoil reversed course and sold its 40% stake in the Peregrino field to Sinochem, the Chinese state-controlled oil company, for a cash sum of $3.07 billion.

On 7 April 2010, Statoil announced finding oil and gas reserves in the Fossekall prospect just north of the Norne oil field in the Norwegian Sea. The proved recoverable oil resources were provisionally estimated at between 37 and 63 million barrels (5,900,000 and 10,000,000 m³), while the volume of associated and free gas was estimated at between 1 to 3 billion standard cubic metres.^[7]

In May 2010, Noble Energy, Inc., operator of the Deep Blue exploration well on Green Canyon 723 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico successfully reached a depth of 32,684 feet (9,962 m). Statoil holds a 15.625 per cent interest in the Deep Blue well.^[8]

In April 2011, Statoil announced a large new find at the Skrugard prospect in the northern Norwegian Sea (Barents Sea in Statoil terminology) north of the Snøhvit field off Hammerfest. The find was seen as a key find as it could lead to more finds in the region^[9]

In September 2011 the company announced a large new find at its Aldous Major South prospect on the Norwegian continental shelf. It later amended its estimates up to between 900 million and 1.5 billion barrels of recoverable oil, making it one of the largest ever finds on the shelf.^[10] The discovery was made less than 10 feet (3 metres) from where Elf Aquitaine had drilled a dry well in 1971.^[11]

Pipeline operations[link]

Statoil is involved in a number of pipelines, including Zeepipe, Statpipe, Europipe I and Europipe II, and Franpipe from the Norwegian continental shelf to Western Europe in addition to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in Central Asia. The pipelines from Norway are organized through Gassled.

The company has trading offices for crude oil, refined petroleum products and natural gas liquids in London, Stamford and Singapore.

Retail station operations[link]

Statoil is operator of Statfjord in the Norwegian North Sea

The company operated three brands of fuel stations: Statoil, Hydro and 1-2-3. Statoil operated petrol station services in Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden. Some fully automated stations are branded 1-2-3. In Sweden the company also operated Hydro stations. In total Statoil had about 2,000 fuel stations. In mid-2008, Statoil service stations in the Republic of Ireland began to rebrand as Topaz, following the acquisition of the company in 2006 by Irish oil firm Topaz Energy Group.

In first quarter of 2010, Statoil ASA decided to have a new ownership structure for the retail operation.^[12] Statoil ASA staid the main shareholder in the new company, Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA. On April 18, 2012 it was announced that Alimentation Couche-Tard will buy Statoil Fuel & Retail for $2.8 billion.^[13]

History[link]

The heritage of Statoil derives from the three major Norwegian petroleum companies Statoil, Norsk Hydro and Saga Petroleum (the latter two merged in 1999).

Statoil[link]

See also History of Statoil (1972–2007).

Den Norske Stats Oljeselskap A/S was founded as a private limited company owned by the Government of Norway on July 14, 1972 by a unanimous act passed by the Norwegian parliament Stortinget. The political motivation was Norwegian participation in the oil industry on the continental shelf and to build up Norwegian competency within the petroleum industry to establish the foundations of a domestic petroleum industry. Statoil was required to discuss important issues with the Minister of Industry, later Minister of Petroleum and Energy. Statoil was also required to submit an annual report to the parliament.

In 1973 the company started work acquiring a presence in the petrochemical industry. This resulted in the development of processing plants in Rafsnes and, in partnership with Norsk Hydro, the Mongstad plant in 1980. In 1981 the company acquired, as the first Norwegian company, operator rights on the Norwegian continental shelf on the Gullfaks field. 1987-88 saw the largest scandal in the companies history, the Mongstad scandal that made the until then unassailable CEO Arve Johnsen withdraw.

In the 1980s Statoil decided to become a fully integrated petroleum company and started building the Statoil fuel station brand. The stations in Norway originated as Norol stations while the stations in Denmark and Sweden were purchased from Esso in 1985, while the stations in Ireland were purchased from British Petroleum in 1992 and ConocoPhilips Jet in the mid '90s, then sold by Statoil to Topaz Oil in 2006. Statoil also built up a network of stations in part of Eastern Europe in the 1990s.

Wikinews has related news: Norway purchases Canadian oil sands company

The company was privatised and made a public limited company (allmennaksjeselskap) in 2001, becoming listed on the both the Oslo Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. At the same time it changed its name to Statoil ASA. The government still retained a majority ownership in the company. In 2007 Statoil bought a large area in the Athabasca oil sand field in Canada after purchasing North American Oil Sands Corporation for USD 2.2 billion. (In 2012, Statoil had 4 oil sand licences (oljesandlisensene ) as part of the Kai Kos Deh Seh project: Leismer, Corner, Hangingstone and Thornberry.^[14])

Hydro[link]

In 1965 Hydro joined Elf Aquitaine and six other French companies to form Petronord to perform search for oil and gas in the North Sea. Hydro soon became a large company in the North Sea petroleum industry, and also became operator of a number of fields, the first being Oseberg.^{[citation needed]}

Hydro acquired in the late 1980s the Mobil service stations in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, changing their name to Hydro. In 1995 Hydro merged its stations in Norway and Denmark with the Texaco, creating the joint venture HydroTexaco. The service station chain was sold in 2006 to Reitangruppen. In 1999 Hydro acquired Norway's third largest petroleum company Saga Petroleum, who had major upstream operations primarily in Norway and the United Kingdom. The British operations were later sold.^{[citation needed]}

Merger[link]

The logo of StatoilHydro

The New York Stock Exchange on June 20, 2011, on the 10th anniversary of when Statoil's shares were listed.

The merger proposal was announced in December 2006.^[15] Under the rules of the EEA the merger was approved by the European Union on May 3, 2007^[16] and by the Norwegian Parliament on June 8, 2007.^[17] Statoil's shareholders hold 67.3% of the new company, with Norsk Hydro shareholders owning the remaining 32.7%.^[16] The Norwegian Government, the biggest shareholder in both Statoil and Norsk Hydro, holds 67% of the company.^[18] Jens Stoltenberg, the Norwegian Prime Minister commented that he views the merger as "the start of a new era. We are creating a global energy company and strengthening Norway’s oil and gas industry."^[19]

It has been noted within the analyst community that a proposal will create an entity with much more competitive strength versus its much larger European rivals, including BP, Total and Shell, while also increasing the ability of the company to make strategic acquisitions, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico.^[20] It is the ninth largest oil company in the world, and would be the 48th largest company in the world on the current Fortune Global 500 list with a revenue of NOK 480 billion.^[21]

The company's management team was initially to be led by President and CEO Helge Lund (who previously held the same posts at Statoil), with Eivind Reiten, the President and CEO of Hydro, acting as Chairman.^[15] However, Eivind Reiten decided to resign as chairman three days after the merger because of a possible corruption case in Hydro's former oil division. The Vice-Chair and former Minister of Petroleum and Energy Marit Arnstad served as chairperson until 1 April, when Svein Rennemo took up the post on a permanent basis after resigning as the CEO of the Norwegian oil services company Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS).

To reflect a merger of two companies and with regards of the minor partner, Hydro, it was decided that the joint company should be given a new name. An actual new name was not decided upon at the time of the merger, and StatoilHydro was created for temporary usage only. The firm announced its intention to revert to the name Statoil ASA, and this was approved by the Annual General Meeting in May 2009.^[22] The name was changed on 2 November 2009^[23]

Divestment[link]

In early June 2011, Statoil ASA has divested 24.1 percent shares in Gassled joint venture for NOK 17.35 billion ($3.25 billion) to Solveig Gas Norway AS and still has 5 percent shares in the JV.^[24]

Expansion of resources[link]

Two large oil reserves, estimated to contain 700 million to 1.5 billion barrels of recoverable oil equivalents, were announced in 2011 and 2012. This included a new discovery in the North Sea of 500 million to 1.2 billion barrels and a find in the Havis Prospect of the Barents Sea of 200 to 300 million barrels of oil.^[25]

Corruption[link]

Statoil/Horton case[link]

The Statoil/Horton case refers to the company's use of bribes in Iran in 2002–2003 in an attempt to secure lucrative oil contracts in that country. This was mainly achieved by hiring the services of Horton Investments, an Iranian consultancy firm owned by Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani, son of former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani. Horton Investments was paid USD 15.2 million by Statoil to influence important political figures in Iran to grant oil contracts to Statoil. The corruption scandal was uncovered by Norwegian paper Dagens Næringsliv on September 3, 2003.^{[citation needed]}

Libyan allegations[link]

The possible consultancy agreements and transactions associated with Hydro’s operations in Libya are under investigation. In an article in Aftenposten 9 November 2007 the journalist Erling Borgen criticizes Helge Lund for Statoil's participation in corrupt and undemocratic countries. Helge Lund has stated that it is not his or Statoil's intention to express opinions on such issues.^{[citation needed]}

Trial against Statoil consultant and two accomplices in 2011[link]

A Statoil consultant and 2 others were tried in November 2011, for having received Norwegian kroner 7 million, in exchange for contracts and payments totaling Norwegian kroner "several tenfold" millions.^[26]

Controversies[link]

Statoil centre at Rotvoll, Trondheim

Rotvoll protest[link]

In 1991 a controversy arose between Statoil and local environmentalists, mainly from Natur og Ungdom and Friends of the Earth Norway, who protested the building of a new research and development centre at Rotvoll in Trondheim, Norway, wetlands area close to the city with significant bird life. The controversy climaxed with civil disobedience by the environmentalists, but the centre was still built.^{[citation needed]}

Corrib gas project[link]

Statoil is a partner of Royal Dutch Shell in the Corrib gas project, which entails developing a natural gas field off the northwest of Ireland. The project has proved controversial with some Irish residents. In the summer of 2005, five men from County Mayo were jailed for contempt of court after refusing to obey a temporary court injunction forbidding them to interfere with work being undertaken on their land. The ensuing protests led to the Shell to Sea campaign that opposes the project.^{[citation needed]}

Wikinews has related news: North Sea oil spill is Norway's second worst

Management of art collection[link]

The Statoil Art Programme, which was founded in the mid-1980s, has allegedly had its management breaching the ethical guidelines of International Council of Museums (ICOM), according to one of Aftenposten's resident critics of art/architecture, as of October 2010.^[27]

North Sea[link]

In March 2011, Statoil halted work on two North Sea oil field projects because of higher taxes in the U.K. budget.^[28] In May 2011 they hired former MI6 chief John Scarlett as a strategic advisor.^[29]

Charges of unethical practices in Athabasca[link]

In 2012, a British company (Ecclesiastical Investment) announced that they were selling their stake in Statoil, as a result of perceived unethical practices related to Athabasca oil sands projects.^[30]

Arctic[link]

Rosneft and Statoil made the Arctic exploration deal in May 2012. It is the third deal Rosneft has signed in the past month, after Arctic exploration agreements with Italy's Eni and US giant Exxon Mobil.^[31]

According to Greenpeace the Arctic is under threat from both climate change and increased oil drilling. Arctic oil drilling is a dangerous, high-risk enterprise and an oil spill under these icy waters would have a catastrophic impact on one of the most pristine, unique and beautiful landscapes on earth. ^{[32] [33]}

The Arctic melting permafrost is a feedback loop. As temperatures rise, permafrost melts, releasing trapped methane into the atmosphere. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, so as the permafrost melts and releases methane into the atmosphere, warming is exacerbated which in turn causes more permafrost to melt. As sea ice loss and melting permafrost create further global warming, The Arctic meltdown has grave consequences for the entire planet.^[34]

Environmental record[link]

Statoil and Shell were planning on building a gas-fired powerplant in Norway that would infuse CO₂ underground or beneath the seabed, but they discarded the plan due to economic reasons.^[35]

Statoil has injected CO₂ into the Utsira formation on the Sleipner gas field for environmental storage purposes since 1996. Natural gas containing approximately 8.5% CO₂ is produced on the Sleipner Vest field. The gas is transported to the Sleipner Treatment platform, where the CO₂ is removed. The gas is exported to the UK, Germany and Belgium, and the CO₂ is injected into the Utsira formation.^[36]

The world's first operational deep-water floating large-capacity wind turbine is the Hywind, launched by Statoil in 2009.^[37] The 2.3 MW turbine can be anchored in water 120–700 m deep. It will be tested off the coast of Norway for two years.^[38][39] The 120-meter-tall tower with a 2.3 MW turbine was towed 10 km offshore into the Amoy Fjord, in 220-meter-deep water, off of Stavanger, Norway on 2009-06-06 for a two year test run.^[40] The unit became operational in the summer of 2009,^[41] and was formally inaugurated on 8 September 2009.^[42]

The Hydrogen Technologies division, located in Notodden in the county of Telemark, is widely regarded^{[by whom?]} as a world leader in alkaline electrolysis technology, used to generate hydrogen and oxygen from water.^{[citation needed]} When powered by clean, renewable energy sources, hydrogen represents an alternative energy storage medium that could one-day fill the void created when the world's fossil-fuel reserves have been fully depleted.^{[citation needed]}

Sponsorship[link]

On 23 December 2009, the International Ski Federation announced that Statoil was to be an official sponsor of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 that was held in Oslo.^[43]

References[link]

External links[link]

	Companies portal
	Energy portal

• Official website
• Statoil Lubricants

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