The international oil companies reigned more or less supreme when Norway awarded its first...
As early as the 1960s, the Storting (parliament) had made some important choices which...
Striking oil in the Ekofisk field on 25 October 1969 has been dubbed “the discovery...
The non-socialist coalition headed by prime minister Per Borten from the Centre Party (Sp)...
Many questions were being asked in 1970. How should the Norwegian state be organised in...
Developing policies for the young oil nation shifted into top gear with the Ekofisk...
Statoil’s creation story might have looked very different if the non-socialist coalition...
Becoming a fully integrated oil company was Statoil’s goal from the very start. Securing...
Today’s Equinor was actually born on 18 September 1972, with the statutory general...
Arve Johnsen served as Statoil’s first CEO from 1972 to 1988. He was a clear-speaking...
Norway was in a comfortable negotiating position when licensing its “Brent” blocks in...
CEO Arve Johnsen attended his first board meeting in the state oil company on 5 December...
The big question in 1973-74 was what role Statoil should play and how that should be...
The Storting (parliament) had resolved that a state oil company was to be established, and...
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) resolved to use oil as a...
Geological chance dictates the presence of petroleum on the Norwegian continental shelf...
Set to become Norway’s most lucrative company, Statoil started with an equity of just...
Intensive efforts were made during Statoil’s early years by chair Jens Christian Hauge...
Statoil expanded swiftly and in many directions, but not without problems and...
Getting involved at an early stage in processing natural gas liquids (NGL) from the...
Geologists from operator Mobil performed a veritable war dance of pure joy on the drill...
Statoil’s articles of association were not approved by the Storting (parliament) until...
Arve Johnsen had a lot to get to grips with when he took office at the age of 38 as the...
Jens Christian Hauge’s uncompromising stance towards the minister of industry and the...
The terms of the licence meant that Statoil became responsible for all information to the...
Statoil secured the Ross Rig drilling unit on a long-term charter in 1974, initiating a...
During its early years, Statoil was a male-dominated workplace. The first women appointed...
The construction of Statfjord A included two major industrial assignments: construction of...
The Storting (parliament) voted on 9 June 1975 that Statoil should retain its 50 per cent...
Ross Rig was the first drilling unit secured by Statoil as an operator. Through its work,...
What should Norwegian petroleum policy look like? Did an oil nation need a state-owned oil...
Norway’s oil history was still young and unformed in the mid-1970s. One question was...
Development of the Statfjord field from discovery to production was the first oil project...
The huge quantities of oil and gas in Statfjord had to be brought ashore. Negotiations on...
Arve Johnsen, Statoil’s first CEO, had big ambitions of covering everything from...
Preparations for building the Statfjord B platform were well under way in the autumn of...
Several different occupational groups in Statoil unionised in 1977. A positive attitude to...
Great expectations had been aroused by the “golden block” on Norway’s continental...
Norway’s block 34/10 was so attractive that it had been nicknamed the “golden...
Choosing Condeep concrete platforms for Gullfaks, where Statoil had an 85 per cent holding...
Opening the Statpipe gas pipeline in October 1985 was a major technological achievement,...
The deal was done. Put simply, Norway was to pay about NOK 1 billion, Swedish carmaker...
Geologists normally hunt for subtle changes in their seismic data. These might represent...
The first construction stage of Statoil’s office building at Forus outside Stavanger was...
A first step into the wider world was taken when Statoil CEO Arve Johnsen boarded a flight...
Expectations of finding oil were great when Norway’s central and northern continental...
All self-respecting petroleum engineers have heard of the Olga computer programme, which...
Norway was in economic trouble in 1977 as a result of interlinked oil and shipping crises....
Different rules and much turbulence were key features of worker-employer relations during...
On May 8, 1981, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Statoil on Forus. The...
Landing Norwegian petroleum in Norway was the sixth of 10 oil policy “commandments”...
The whole 880 kilometres of the Statpipe gas pipeline system was laid on the Norwegian...
A key target for the USA during the Cold War was to weaken the Soviet Union’s military...
Statfjord offered a unique opportunity for a young and ambitious Statoil to gain...
Statoil wanted to expand the Mongstad refinery in order to take more of the crude oil from...
The Storting (parliament) may have voted to establish Statoil in 1972, but an underlying...
A network of underwater pipelines running from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS)...
Work on equality at Statoil, now Equinor, has many features in common with action in this...
Statoil was starting to secure substantial crude oil supplies during the 1980s, which...
A message that West Vanguard had suffered a blowout and would be evacuated was picked up...
Troll was not only a gas giant, but also contained big oil reserves. The question of what...
The Troll field ranked as one of the world’s largest offshore gas deposits when...
The Tommeliten project might not have been Statoil’s biggest, but was highly efficient....
They say Norwegians who claim to express themselves best in English speak neither tongue...
The first producing wells on Gullfaks were not on a platform, but stood on the seabed. But...
Drilling unit Ross Rig spudded the first well for operator Statoil in block 34/10 west of...
Norway’s largest oil field has been both a prestige project and a gilt-edged revenue...
Although the Tommeliten project reached its goals, it was not without problems along the...
As a major consumer of oil and gas, the USA was one of the first places where Statoil...
Statoil wanted to expand abroad, and an attractive target lay immediately to the south. It...
Huge cost overruns on a refinery expansion and new crude oil terminal at Mongstad north of...
Harald Norvik took over from Arve Johnsen to become Statoil’s second CEO from 1988 to...
Norol was created in 1976 as an independent state-owned distribution company for petroleum...
In April 1988, it became clear that expansion and modernisation of Statoil’s Mongstad...
International expansion at Statoil in the 1980s and 1990s was initially directed at...
Statoil’s board resolved in December 1989 to establish a subsidiary in Thailand with an...
Oil prices fell to their lowest level for more than a decade in the autumn of 1986....
Seven years after the 1979 discovery of Troll, operator Norske Shell submitted plans for...
Norway’s offshore workers had great expectations of the 1990 collective pay settlement....
A strategic alliance with British Petroleum (BP) was announced by Statoil in late August...
Part of Statoils 1990 collaboration agreement with BP involved buying into the British...
Civil war and corruption were also making their mark on Angola, further south along...
Many good things can come out of a crisis. The oil price slump in 1986 meant the oil...
The Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 and Azerbaijan’s emergence as an independent...
A shock wave ploughed literally across Stavanger and figuratively through all of Statoil...
Norne was developed with the first production ship on the Norwegian continental shelf...
The Sleipner East gas story is a dramatic one. A negotiating fiasco with the British was...
Three of four Xmas trees were in place over the pre-drilled wells on Sleipner East by the...
The 1994 winter Olympics at Lillehammer north of Oslo was acclaimed as a sporting and...
The European Economic Area (EEA) agreement, which came into force on 1 January 1994,...
Both similarities and differences between Norway and Brazil as oil nations have emerged...
If there is one occasion when you are going to check the weather forecast with particular...
Heidrun was the goat in Norse mythology who supplied the gods and their warriors in...
An interest in Ireland’s Corrib gas field was secured by Statoil through the first Irish...
Most Norwegians know that Troll is large. They may also be aware that this field ranks as...
Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, mainly in the form of oil sands. Statoil...
A Chinese state oil company opened large areas off China to foreign companies in the late...
Statoil/Equinor has always had a reputation for being far advanced in developing and...
A speech in early 1999 and a holiday cabin visit in 2006 might not seem revolutionary. But...
Could part of the solution to global food shortages lie in gas from Heidrun and a...
Statoil and Saga Petroleum were both established in 1972, but had very different starting...
Statoil acquired its third CEO in September 1999, when Olav Fjell took office. The biggest...
Formidable progress has been made in office technology by Statoil/Equinor since the...
A desire to grow and become more like the international oil companies emerged early on in...
Statoil and Shell each owned a stake from 2000-14 in the other’s refinery at Mongstad in...
Statoil opened a representative office in Mexico during 2001. This lay geographically...
Statoil secured its first offshore exploration licence in Brazil during 2001, after state...
Equinor’s sprawling head office at Forus is a well-known landmark for most Stavanger...
In Norse mythology, Åsgard (or Asgard) was the home of the gods in the centre of world,...
Statoil and Norsk Hydro had a lot in common as the trend-setting domestic oil companies in...
Statoil’s partial privatisation ranks as one of the key events in its history. But it is...
Having prepared the ground for a partial privatisation over several years, CEO Harald...
Partial privatisation in 2001 was important for allowing Statoil to make a stronger...
Gassco has served as operator for gas transport from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS)...
The ending of Statoil’s international collaboration with BP in 1999 sparked a search for...
Chief financial officer (CFO) Inge K. Hansen was appointed acting CEO of Statoil on 23...
Statoil gained its first office in Texan oil metropolis Houston during 1995. This was the...
Almost year passed after Olav Fjell’s departure as CEO in September 2003 until Helge...
Helge Lund led Statoil through major changes from 2004 to 2014. Against the background of...
An incident viewed as one of the most serious to hit the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS)...
The Ocean Rig Poseidon drillship found large quantities of gas off Tanzania in 2012, five...
The Kristin gas/condensate field lies in the Norwegian Sea, 16 kilometres south-west of...
Vladimir Putin’s emergence as Russian president in 1999 initially meant that the country...
Processing oil and gas from the Norwegian continental shelf at home, rather than simply...
The Troll A platform is renowned for being the tallest structure ever moved by humans. Yet...
Lofty visions are a traditional component of the New Year address given by Norway’s...
Canada is a vast country with rich natural resources where Statoil wanted to invest and...
Before Statoil merged with Norsk Hydro’s oil and energy division, both companies ranked...
Statoil secured its first deepwater licences off Indonesia in 2007, and another six four...
Snøhvit was the first field brought on stream in the Barents Sea. With long, dark winters...
Equinor’s engagement in and turbulent history with Libya has its origins in the 1990s....
The vision of an “underwater factory” was launched by Statoil in 2012. It believed...
The dream of amalgamating Statoil with Norsk Hydro’s oil and energy division was not...
How far is it possible to claim that Britain and the British have played a special role in...
Producing oil and gas from the UK continental shelf (UKCS) represents a key part of...
Equinor’s biggest offshore wind power investment is in the UK – the largest market for...
Statoil farmed into American licences on land from 2008 in order to participate in the...
Many can lay claim to finding oil – the driller who guides the bit thousands of metres...
Iraq has some of the world’s largest petroleum deposits, making it an attractive country...
Amending a company’s basic structure provides an indication of its willingness and...
A sense of “do or die” prevailed at Statoil’s Harstad exploration department during...
Statoil’s involvement with Kenya began in 2012, at a time when the country had just...
Many Statoil/Equinor employees will undoubtedly associate India with IT support –...
Statoil established a presence in Australia during its most expansive period, when Helge...
A process was launched by Statoil in 2010 to dispose of all its service stations across...
Permission to explore for oil and gas off New Zealand was secured by Statoil in 2013. This...
Bill Maloney, Statoil’s exploration manager for the USA and South America, was not...
BP sold interests in Algerian gas fields to Statoil in 2003 to reduce its exposure in the...
Statoil opened an office in South Korea in 2014 to follow up major construction projects...
As part of an aggressive international exploration strategy while Helge Lund was CEO,...
The petroleum industry has historically enjoyed higher profit margins than most other...
Nicaragua is thought to have one of the largest proportions of untouched oil reserves in...
A first South African licence was secured by Statoil in 2015, when the company was...
Nobody has more represented continuity combined with great strategic influence in...
A big commitment to underwater technology was made in Norway during the early 2000s....
Equinor took over the operatorship of Norway’s share of Frigg in 2016. Straddling the...
Farming into Uruguayan exploration licences by Statoil in 2016 made this South American...
Equinor established itself in Argentina during 2017, and opened an office in Buenos Aires,...
Statoil’s name and former logo, with an orange droplet on a blue background, was a...
A well control incident on the Songa Endurance drilling rig during 15 October 2016 was the...
As an advanced society with a big demand for energy, Japan stood out at an early stage as...
Statoil changed its name to Equinor on 16 May 2018. That marked a strategic shift,...
Johan Sverdrup lies on the Utsira High in the Norwegian North Sea, about 150 kilometres...
Aasta Hansteen lies in the northernmost Norwegian Sea and is being produced from the...
Low oil prices in 2014-18 halted new orders to South Korean yards from Equinor for a time....
A 2019 estimate placed Johan Sverdrup as the third largest oil field on the Norwegian...
Heatwaves, droughts, fires, extreme rainfall, floods and landslides – the challenges...
The quality of maintenance work at Equinor was called into question in 2020 following...
Equinor’s CEO in its 50th anniversary years has close ties to the long threads in modern...
Producing a giant like Troll, which contains large quantities of both oil and gas, is no...
Norway’s Troll field holds several records. Not only is Troll A the world’s tallest...
The Hywind Tampen project on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) ranks as the world’s...
Statoil/Equinor has operated over years in several types of boundary areas on the...
Stavanger could celebrate the 50th anniversary of securing the official role as Norway’s...
Den norske stats oljeselskap a.s was incorporated on 18 September 1972. Its name was...
On 18 September 2022, 50 years had passed since the first general meeting of Den norske...