As early as the 1960s, the Storting (parliament) had made some important choices which laid the foundations for a national oil policy. These enjoyed broad political support.

Set to become Norway’s most lucrative company, Statoil started with an equity of just NOK 5 million, no earnings and big expenses. Financing its activities became an ever-growing source of friction between the various political parties and between Statoil and the politicians.

They say that if you torture numbers, they will tell you anything you want. A production graph may not be an inexhaustible source of insight, but it can serve well enough as a lens through which to view the company’s growth and history.

Stavanger could celebrate the 50th anniversary of securing the official role as Norway’s “oil capital” on 14 June 2022. The decision to establish Statoil and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), and to base both in the city, marked a watershed in its history and subsequent development.

Equinor’s sprawling head office at Forus is a well-known landmark for most Stavanger residents. Far fewer notice a relatively modest building near the city’s concert hall. There, roughly 60 people administer a large slice of the revenues from Norway’s petroleum production – more than NOK 2 000 billion since the company was founded in 2019.

Norway’s offshore workers had great expectations of the 1990 collective pay settlement. After a two-year government-imposed wage freeze, employees on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) wanted to recover the ground lost. But the country still had high unemployment and oil prices were low. The pay talks soon ended in a strike and compulsory arbitration. That made the workforce angry, and a bitter illegal strike broke out.

Norway’s largest oil field has been both a prestige project and a gilt-edged revenue source. Statfjord’s size and profitability have given it several unique aspects on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).

Statfjord offered a unique opportunity for a young and ambitious Statoil to gain production responsibility on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Such an operator job would be an important step towards becoming a fully-fledged oil company. But the Conservative election victory in 1981 put its plans under threat.

The petroleum industry has historically enjoyed higher profit margins than most other sectors, particularly when oil and gas prices are buoyant. Nevertheless, shareholders demand efficient operation. That makes cost control a key element – for Statoil/Equinor as well. Certain development features from the merger with part of Norsk Hydro in 2006-07 to the present day are addressed below, concentrating on the Step project.

As a major consumer of oil and gas, the USA was one of the first places where Statoil opened a sales office. The company’s development into a big producer of oil and gas in North America has increased the significance of a bridgehead there over the years – eventually also for renewable energy sales.

A separate subsidiary was established by Statoil in Singapore during 1991 to pursue oil trading in east Asia. The company wanted a presence in a region where many countries were experiencing strong economic growth and rapidly increasing demand for oil. Statoil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd became operational on 1 January 1992 and has since expanded.

The European Economic Area (EEA) agreement, which came into force on 1 January 1994, committed Norway to adapt its legal framework to the European Union’s regulations. That also applied to the oil industry, with no preferential treatment of Norwegian companies allowed. This had consequences for Statoil, and political discussions were heated before the Storting (parliament) approved the EU’s hydrocarbons licensing directive.

The 1994 winter Olympics at Lillehammer north of Oslo was acclaimed as a sporting and organisational success. As one of nine main sponsors, Statoil supplied the fuel for the Olympic flame – which is why the torch relay around Norway also called at Gullfaks, the most Norwegian field of them all.

Many groups, both Norwegian and foreign, visited Statoil in the 1970s. The company welcomed 700 guests in the first half of 1977 alone. But some meetings yielded unintended culture clashes.

All histories contain some narratives which must be included, which are defining, regardless of whether the subject is a Norwegian oil company, a family or an autobiography. Virtually all chronicles of Statoil contain at least one story about Mongstad. So why is this refinery so important in the company’s history?

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) resolved to use oil as a political weapon for the first time in 1973. Their action hit the whole world’s energy supply, and oil prices shot sky-high.