Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. It is primarily a petroleum company operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renewable energy and lithium mining. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, Equinor was ranked as the 169th-largest public company in the world. In 2023, the company was ranked 52nd in the same list. the company has 21,126 employees.
The current company was formed by the 2007 merger of Statoil with the oil and gas division of Norsk Hydro. As of 2017, the Government of Norway is the largest shareholder with 67% of the shares, while the rest is public stock. The ownership interest is managed by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. The company is headquartered and led from Stavanger, while most of their international operations are currently led from Fornebu, outside Oslo.
The name Equinor was adopted in 2018 and is formed by combining equi, the root for words such as equity, equality, and equilibrium, and nor, indicating that the company is of Norwegian origin. The Norwegian meaning of the former name Statoil is 'state oil', indicating that the oil company is state owned.
In 1973, the company started work acquiring a presence in the petrochemical industry. This resulted in the development of processing plants in Rafnes 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. 198788 saw the largest scandal in the company's 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, and the stations in Ireland were purchased from BP in 1992 and ConocoPhillips Jet in the mid 1990s, then sold by Statoil to Topaz Energy in 2006. Statoil also built up a network of stations in part of Eastern Europe in the 1990s.
In 1991, the company was the target of a months-long protest and civil disobedience, mainly from Natur og Ungdom and Friends of the Earth Norway. The protesters opposed the building of a new research and development centre at Rotvoll, in Trondheim, Norway, a wetlands area close to the city with significant bird life. However, the R&D center was still built.
The company was privatised and made a public limited company (allmennaksjeselskap) in 2001, becoming listed on both the Oslo Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. At the same time, it changed its name to Statoil ASA. The government retained 81.7% of the shares. Through further privatization in 2004 and 2005, the government's share was reduced to 70.9%.
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 US$15.2 million by Statoil to influence important political figures in Iran to grant oil contracts to Statoil. The corruption scandal was uncovered by the Norwegian paper Dagens Næringsliv on September 3, 2003. In 2006, the company accepted a $10.5 million fine for violating the U.S Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
In September 2007, Statoil and the Brazilian oil company Petrobras signed a deal aimed at expanding exploration, sub-sea, and cooperation. 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's 50% share of the Peregrino oil field for $1.8 billion.
In 2007, Statoil bought a large area in the Athabasca oil sand field in Canada after purchasing North American Oil Sands Corporation for $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).
In 2009, Statoil launched the world's first operational deep-water floating large-capacity wind turbine, Hywind. The tall tower with a 2.3 MW turbine was towed offshore into the Amoy Fjord in deep water, off of Stavanger, Norway on 9 June 2009 for a two-year test run.
In the late 1980s, Hydro acquired 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 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, which had major upstream operations primarily in Norway and the United Kingdom. The British operations were later sold.
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, TotalEnergies, and Shell, while also increasing the ability of the company to make strategic acquisitions, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico. 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 Norwegian krone 480 billion.
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. However, 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 was chairperson until 1 April 2008, 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 the 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. The name was changed on 2 November 2009
The Norwegian state's share of the company after the merger was initially 62.5%. As a parliamentary decision in 2001 said it was a goal that the government should own 67% of Statoil, it was announced that the Norwegian government intended to increase its share. In 2009, it was announced that the Norwegian government had reached its goal of obtaining 67% of Statoil's share.
On 24 May 2010, Statoil sold a 40% stake in the Peregrino field to Sinochem, the Chinese state-controlled oil company, for a cash sum of $3.07 billion, but retained 60% and the operatorship.
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 , while the volume of associated and free gas was estimated at between 1 and 3 billion standard cubic metres.
In early June 2011, Statoil ASA has divested 24.1% shares in Gassled joint venture for NOK 17.35 billion ($3.25 billion) to Solveig Gas Norway AS and still has 5% shares in the partnership. In 2016 Statoil sold the Leismer oil sand operation in Canada to Athabasca Oil.
In 2011–2012, Statoil announced a new discovery in the North Sea of , a large new find at its Aldous Major South prospect on the Norwegian continental shelf with recoverable oil between , 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, and a find in the Havis Prospect of the Barents Sea of of oil.
In 2011, Statoil bought Brigham Exploration for $4.4 billion to gain access to its oil shale operations in North Dakota's Bakken formation. In 2012, Statoil sent 45,000 barrels of oil per day by from North Dakota.
In November 2011, a Statoil consultant and two others were tried for having received 7 million Norwegian kroner, in exchange for contracts and payments totaling "several tenfold" of millions of Norwegian kroner.
In June 2013, Statoil announced a funded joint venture with Petrofrontier Corp. in Australia. Petrofrontier's Georgina Basin shale oil and gas bearing structures consistent with other producing areas in Australia and North America.
In 2016, Statoil licensed 66% of the Carcará field in the Santos Basin from Petrobras for $2.5 billion.
In October 2014, Statoil sold its 15.5% stake in the Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan to Petronas for a fee of $2.25 billion.
Since 1 October 2014, Statoil also supplies natural gas to Ukraine's Naftogaz.
In 2016, Statoil acquired a $3 million share of a US wind turbine leasing company. Statoil expects oil demand to peak in the 2020s, and continually decline thereafter due to electric transportation. Exxon backs ‘serious action’ on climate change Financial Times, October 2016. Quote: "Eldar Saetre, chief executive of Statoil, said that global oil demand could peak as soon as the 2020s as electric vehicles begin to replace those running on petroleum. "Then we will have a shrinking oil industry"
Despite finding no oil at its large exploration prospect in the Arctic in 2017, Statoil announced in October 2017 that the company would not give up exploring the Arctic.
In October 2017, Statoil commissioned the 30-MW Hywind Scotland floating wind farm off Peterhead, Scotland. Equinor was contracted to build a wind tower assembly farm in New York City that same year.
In March 2018, Statoil acquired a 50% stake in the Polish Bałtyk Środkowy III and Bałtyk Środkowy II (Middle Baltic II/III) offshore wind farms.
In February 2024, Equinor and Deepak Fertilizers and Petrochemicals Corporation limited (DFPCL) entered into a 15-year agreement to supply natural gas liquids annually from 2026. The annual supply will be up to 0.65 million tons of gas.
Between 2007 and 2019, the company reported massive losses, including over USD $21.5 billion lost from its US-based assets. In 2019, the company sold its assets in Eagle Ford, Texas to Repsol for $325 million.
In August 2020, Equinor appointed Anders Opedal as its new CEO. That year, the company announced that it would be decreasing employee numbers by 20% and contractor numbers by half in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, in response to falling oil prices.
In January 2021, Equinor acquired a contract to provide off-shore wind power to the city of New York in partnership with BP. The contract with New York State was reportedly the largest offshore wind deal offered by an American state to date.
In February 2021, Equinor completed the sale of its shale assets in the Bakken formation of North Dakota to Grayson Mill Energy for $900 million. That month, a spokesperson for the company stated that Equinor was considering further sales of energy assets in the US, in the aftermath of the global oil price war.
In May 2021, Equinor and Italian energy company Eni announced that they were partnering on developing floating wind farms in the North Sea under a contract with the Norwegian government.
Equinor partnered with Norwegian renewable energy company Vårgrønn in 2021 to acquire wind acreage in the Utsira Nord region of the North Sea.
In addition to the Norwegian continental shelf, Equinor operates oil and gas fields in Australia, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, China, Libya, Nigeria, Russia, United Kingdom, United States, and Venezuela. Statoil has offices that are looking for possible ventures in the countries of Mexico, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The company has processing plants in Belgium, Denmark, France, and Germany. In 2006, Statoil was given approval to implement the world's largest carbon sequestration project as a means to mitigate carbon emissions to the atmosphere.
Equinor is a partner in Brazil's offshore Peregrino oil field, which came on-stream in 2011. Equinor holds a 15.625% interest in the Deep Blue well on Green Canyon 723 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
Equinor has a long history of attempting to get involved in the Russian petroleum sector. Many partnerships have been entered, but the company has never had a major success in Russia. It partnered with Gazprom and Total SE on the Shtokman project in the Barents Sea, but this was shelved due to high costs and low gas prices. It then shifted from partnership with Gazprom to Rosneft, and in the two companies, have drilled for oil in several areas of Russia, again without any major finds. After the introduction of international sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War against Russia, Equinor has kept a much lower public profile on its Russian activities while continuing largely as before. Equinor left Russia in September 2022 after striking a deal with Rosneft, selling its Russian assets and transferring future liabilities and investment commitments for one euro.
The Norwegian economics professor Karl Ove Moene has, in the Norwegian business daily Dagens Næringsliv, raised the question of Equinor and resource curse. Much economic research show that, while natural resources are positive for nations with sound political structures, such as Norway, they are negative for nations with unsound political structures, and will, despite the riches, result in a lower economic growth. Besides his own research, Moene also points to similar results from Paul Collier.
In July 2025, Equinor discovered natural gas in the Barents Sea, near the Johan Casterberg field. At the end of August 2025, Equinor found oil and gas in two reservoirs in the Fram area of the North Sea. One discovery was of oil and gas, the other one just gas.
The company has trading offices for crude oil, refined petroleum products, and natural gas liquids in London, Stamford, Connecticut, and Singapore.
In February 2025, Equinor announced that they would cut investments in renewables to $5bn over the next two years, down from about $10bn.
In August 2025, Equinor and SSE finalized a seabed lease with the Crown Estate to progress the Dogger Bank D offshore wind project.
In 2010, the downstream operations were separated into new listed company Statoil Fuel & Retail. In total Statoil had about 2,300 fuel station services in Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, and Sweden, as well as significant lubricants and aviation fuel operations.
In 2012 Canadian company Alimentation Couche-Tard agreed to buy the company for $2.8 billion. In 2016, Couche-Tard decided to rebrand all fuel stations into the Circle K brand.
Major public interest, as well as policy by the Norwegian government, have caused Equinor to operate with a high degree of transparence. Specifically, the government of Norway has transparency as one of their "10 principles for good corporate governance" policy, published in 2002. This transparency helped amplify the impacts of a scandal in 2014, when Equinor's losses in North American investments were quickly exposed, including a 16-page report by the Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv.
Equinor has also come under public scrutiny for causing greenhouse gas emissions. Protests in 2014, namely at the University of Bergen, pressured Equinor (then called Statoil) to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.Fountain, Henry (2014-12-31). "Norwegians Turn Ambivalent on Statoil, Their Economic Bedrock". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-02-13. Within Norway, groups such as Equinor Out have been placing pressure on Equinor to reduce its use of oil and natural gas, with Equinor Out's stated objective being to have Equinor "end all exploration and development of new oil and gas, and fully transition to renewable energy." Equinor and the Norwegian Government have also come under pressure from other investors in Equinor to reduce Equinor's greenhouse gas emissions, and as a result, Equinor has begun to move towards renewable energy.
Equinor 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. Equinor has injected CO2 into the Utsira formation on the Sleipner gas field for environmental storage purposes since 1996. Natural gas (methane) 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. Technology as a driving force in climate policy (Bjørn-Erik Haugan, Cicerone, Number: 6. pp.8-9. 2005) [2]
Equinor is also a founding member of Methane Guiding Principles, an industry consortium that aims to reduce methane emissions throughout the oil and gas supply chain.
Two musical prizes are included in the program. As of 2013, the grant for both awards is of 1 million Norwegian krone (about $95,000). The Statoil classical music award has been awarded since 1999. The Statoil stipend to a Norwegian Popular music/Rock music artist or group has been awarded since 2008 during the festival and is meant to stimulate an international career.Nina Berglund (20 February 2012): Bernhoft wins Statoil stipend News in English, retrieved 12 May 2013Guro Havrå Bjørnstad: Vant en million kroner - igjen Dagbladet, retrieved 12 May 2013
The program also includes an art prize, Statoils kunstpris, that has been awarded every second year since 2007 to a talented artist in Norway. The grant is 500,000 NOK (about $48,000) which makes it Norway's largest prize of its kind.Thea Steen (2 November 2011): Her er de nominerte til Statoils kunstpris 2011 Dagbladet, retrieved 15 May 2013
Sponsorship for sports includes support for football and skiing. Sponsorship for education focuses on natural sciences and included a yearly competition for high school students in Norway where Statoils realfagspris is awarded.Ragnhild Lunner (11 May 2012): Her er vinnerne av Statoils realfagspris Teknisk Ukeblad, retrieved 14 May 2013
Statoil was an official sponsor of the 2011 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships that was held in Oslo. "Oslo 2011 enjoys great sponsor interest, Statoil". FIS 23 December 2009 article accessed 25 December 2009.
Investments and developments after 2009
Rebranding to Equinor
Operations
Oil and gas exploration and production
Pipeline operations
Solar
Wind energy
Petrol stations
Finances
2005 60,690 4,775 44,907 9.23 2006 66,155 6,344 49,276 10.97 2007 89,399 7,643 82,727 13.34 2008 117,291 7,784 104,058 7.53 2009 73,967 2,834 90,054 11.80 2010 87,330 6,242 106,611 11.70 30,400 2011 119,766 14,079 137,350 13.10 31,715 2012 124,425 11,851 134,917 13.29 23,028 2013 108,613 6,799 150,906 13.30 23,413 2014 99,264 3,871 132,702 10.16 22,516 2015 59,642 −5,192 109,742 8.36 21,581 2016 45,873 −2,922 104,530 11.39 20,539 2017 61,187 4,590 111,100 14.06 20,245 2018 79,593 7,535 112,508 14.06 20,525 2019 64,357 1,843 118,063 13.89 21,212 2020 45,818 −5,510 124,809 12.01 21,245 2021 90,924 1,843 147,120 19.78 21,936 2022 150,806 28,746 158,021 28.10 21,936 2023 107,174 11,885 143,580 27.13 23,000 2024 103,774 8,806 131,141 22.68 24,641
Human rights
Involvement with Norwegian government
Interactions with the Norwegian government
State-owned corporate structural changes and impacts
Energy transition
Controversies
Mongstad scandal
Corrib gas project
Iran corruption lawsuit
North Sea oil projects
Charges of unethical practices in Athabasca
Arctic
Great Australian Bight
Losses in the United States
Censorship of the Science Museum
Corporate structure
Board of directors
Lobbying
Environmental record
Sponsorship
External links
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