A desire to grow and become more like the international oil companies emerged early on in Statoil. Since the early 1980s, it has been involved in more than 50 countries. What types of challenges have this expansion involved? How far have they related to the growth strategies of the various CEOs? An unambiguous answer to the question of what this experience has added up to overall is not easy to find.

Producing a giant like Troll, which contains large quantities of both oil and gas, is no simple matter. Since planning and coordination between the various players are required to achieve optimal exploitation, the field’s commercial life has been divided into stages. Troll phase 3 came on stream in 2021, and wind power in the area is now also under consideration.

International expansion at Statoil in the 1980s and 1990s was initially directed at countries which, like Norway, had national oil companies. This strategy dominated until it was replaced by an emphasis on foreign acquisitions when Helge Lund took over as CEO in 2004.

A strategic alliance with British Petroleum (BP) was announced by Statoil in late August 1990. The two companies were to cooperate on exploration and production in several parts of the world. Statoil hoped this partnership would be the door-opener it needed to the international arena.

The Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 and Azerbaijan’s emergence as an independent republic opened exciting and profitable opportunities for oil companies with international ambitions. A century earlier, magnates like John D Rockefeller, Sweden’s Nobel brothers and the Rothschild brothers had fought over the country’s huge petroleum resources. At that time, it supplied half the world’s oil.

Statoil farmed into American licences on land from 2008 in order to participate in the shale oil and gas revolution there. These acquisitions were in line with CEO Helge Lund’s strategy of expanding rapidly and reaching the international oil industry’s premier division. But this commitment came to cost more than it was worth.

A well control incident on the Songa Endurance drilling rig during 15 October 2016 was the worst event of its kind on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) since 2004. Although nobody was physically injured when gas and seawater spurted up in the incident on Troll, it could easily have become a major accident. Had Statoil had been too lax over safety and was supervision by the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) good enough?

Heidrun was the goat in Norse mythology who supplied the gods and their warriors in Valhalla with mead. In modern times, controlling the field of the same name and the liquid flowing from it was a source of contention. Although Conoco was the operator, Statoil did not sit idly by and watch.

Landing oil from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) in mainland Norway has been the subject of debate ever since the Storting (parliament) adopted its “10 commandments” for petroleum policy in 1971. In 2009, 40 years after the first discovery on the NCS, many north Norwegians still felt the adventure had passed them by. Would the discovery that year of Skrugard – later renamed Johan Castberg – change things?

How far is it possible to claim that Britain and the British have played a special role in Statoil/Equinor’s history? Some examples of the company’s diverse relations with Norway’s neighbour to the west are provided below.

Producing oil and gas from the UK continental shelf (UKCS) represents a key part of Statoil/Equinor’s multifarious activities in Britain. Some key landmarks from the 1980s until today will be reviewed below.

Statoil/Equinor has operated over years in several types of boundary areas on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Examples are provided below of its role at the geographical edges defined by international law, subsea topography and Arctic isolation.

A network of underwater pipelines running from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) exports gas worth almost NOK 30 000 per resident of Norway every year. Extending 8 800 kilometres, it carries a substantial proportion of the gas required by Britain and the EU. How Norway came to host the world’s largest submarine transport system is explained below.

Aasta Hansteen lies in the northernmost Norwegian Sea and is being produced from the deepest waters off Norway. Initial disappointment at limited reserves eventually turned into satisfaction with a profitable development, which also spurred the construction of the Polarled pipeline. This “gas motorway” is intended to make it easier to develop further discoveries.

Oil prices fell to their lowest level for more than a decade in the autumn of 1986. Finding a way to develop a relatively small discovery in such circumstances called for new solutions, and the low prices themselves provided an opportunity for Veslefrikk.

Most Norwegians know that Troll is large. They may also be aware that this field ranks as the biggest on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), with 40 per cent of all its gas. But just how large is Troll? Figures can quickly become incomprehensible if you have no relationship with the units involved. An attempt to make the size of this troll more comprehensible is presented below.