Stories from our first 50 years
Discover the stories behind the headlines. Explore our magazine for stories from our first 50 years as a company.
Equinor, formerly known as Statoil, is a key player in the Norwegian petroleum industry. Founded in 1972 by the Norwegian government, our original purpose was to manage the country’s vast oil and gas resources. Since then, we have played a pivotal role in the development of Norway’s hydrocarbon sector, fuelling economic growth and providing substantial revenue to the state. Through exploration, development, and production of oil and gas, we have contributed significantly to Norway’s status as a leading oil and gas exporter.
Discover the stories behind the headlines. Explore our magazine for stories from our first 50 years as a company.
Explore the history of Norway’s most valuable company in this comprehensive and exciting interactive website created by the team of historians at The Norwegian Petroleum Museum (NPM).
Statoil, the Norwegian State petroleum company, was formed by a decision of the Norwegian parliament to be the government’s commercial instrument in the development of the oil and gas industry in Norway. Five decades later, our company has become the largest supplier of energy to Europe, a world-leading offshore operator, the largest oil and gas operator in Norway, and an international pioneer in renewables and low-carbon solutions. In 2018, we changed our name to Equinor.
Statoil was formed by a decision of the Norwegian parliament and incorporated as a limited liability company under the name Den norske stats oljeselskap AS. At the time owned 100% by the Norwegian State, our initial role was to be the government’s commercial instrument in the development of the oil and gas industry in Norway. Growing in parallel with the Norwegian oil and gas industry, our operations were primarily focused on exploration, development and production of oil and gas on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).
The Statfjord field was discovered in the North Sea and commenced production. In 1981 Statoil was the first Norwegian company to be given operatorship of a field, at Gullfaks in the North Sea.
We grew substantially through the development of the NCS (Statfjord, Gullfaks, Oseberg, Troll and others). In the 1990s, we started to grow internationally, becoming a major player in the European gas market by entering into large sales contracts for the development and operation of gas transport systems and terminals. During these decades, our company was also involved in manufacturing and marketing in Scandinavia and established a comprehensive network of service stations. This line of business was fully divested in 2012.
Statoil was listed on the Oslo and New York stock exchanges and became a public limited company under the name Statoil ASA, with a 67% majority stake owned by the Norwegian State. The name Statoil lasted until 2018, when we changed our name to Equinor.
Our ability to fully realise the potential of the NCS and grow internationally was strengthened through the merger with Norsk Hydro's oil and gas division on 1 October 2007. Our business grew as a result of substantial investments on the NCS and internationally. We delivered the world’s longest multiphase pipelines on the Ormen Lange and Snøhvit gas fields, and the giant Ormen Lange development project was completed in 2007. By 2007, we had expanded into Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Nigeria, UK, and the US Gulf of Mexico, among others.
We changed our name to Equinor ASA, following approval by the company’s annual general meeting on 15 May 2018. Our new name supports our long-term strategy and development as a broad energy company in addition to reflecting our evolution and identity as a company for the generations to come.
In October 2019, the Johan Sverdrup field came on stream, powered by electricity from shore, making it one of the most carbon-efficient fields in the world.
We have set an ambition to be a leading company in the energy transition and to become a net-zero company by 2050, including emissions from production to final energy consumption.
We announced changes to our reporting segments, corporate structure and the corporate executive committee (CEC) to further strengthen our ability to deliver on the always safe, high value, low-carbon strategy.
The changes will support improved value creation from our oil and gas portfolio, accelerate profitable growth within renewables and the development of low-carbon solutions.
In January 2021, civil works began at the Northern Lights development for carbon transport and storage. In June 2021, the final investment decision was made for the first phase of the development of the Bacalhau field.
The Martin Linge field was brought on stream in June 2021, driven by electric power from shore. The third phase of the Troll field development came on stream in August 2021, producing from the Troll West gas cap. In November 2021, the decision was made to develop the third phase of the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm. And to meet growing demand for gas, we significantly scaled up gas production from the NCS in 2021.
Equinor, formerly Statoil, has grown up along with the emergence of the Norwegian oil and gas industry, and dating back to the late 1960s. Today, we are evolving into a broad energy major, with a significant and growing renewables business.
We were formed in 1972 as the Norwegian State Oil Company, Statoil, and two years later the Statfjord field was discovered in the North Sea. In 1979, the Statfjord field commenced production, and in 1981 we were the first Norwegian company to be given operator responsibility for a field, at Gullfaks in the North Sea.
We grew substantially in the 1980s through the development of large fields on the NCS (Statfjord, Gullfaks, Oseberg, Troll and others). We also became a major player in the European gas market by securing large sales contracts for the development and operation of gas transport systems and terminals. During the same decade, we were involved in manufacturing and marketing in Scandinavia and established a comprehensive network of service stations.
Since 2000, our business has grown as a result of substantial investments on the NCS and internationally. In 2001, we were listed on the Oslo and New York Stock Exchanges—beginning a new era in the group's history. We expanded into Algeria, Azerbaijan, the Gulf of Mexico, Nigeria and Angola, among others.
Our ability to fully realise the potential of the NCS was strengthened through the merger with Hydro's oil and gas division on 1 October 2007, making us the world's largest offshore operator. After the merger we became a partner in Brazil's Peregrino field, and later operator. We delivered the world’s longest multiphase pipelines on the Ormen Lange and Snøhvit gas fields, and the giant Ormen Lange development project was completed.
In recent years, we have utilised our expertise to design and manage operations in various environments in order to grow our upstream activities outside our traditional area of offshore production. This includes the development of heavy oil and shale gas projects.
Equinor, formerly known as Statoil, has been one of the most important players in the Norwegian oil industry, and has contributed strongly to make Norway into a modern industrial nation. Today, Norway is one of the world's most productive petroleum provinces and a test lab for technology development.
In 2010, we carried out an initial public offering of Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA on the Oslo stock exchange (Oslo Børs), partially divesting and reducing our interest in the business relating to service stations. In 2012, we sold all of our remaining shares in Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA to Alimentation Couche-Tard, who rebranded the service stations to Circle K in 2016.
We are investing actively in new energy, such as offshore wind, and solar energy, in order to expand energy production, strengthen energy security and combat adverse climate change.
In May 2018, our Annual General Meeting voted to change the company name to Equinor to better reflect our evolution and identity as a company for the generations to come.
In 2022, Equinor celebrated 50 years.
Since the establishment of Statoil in 1972 it has been important for the company to preserve its history through written and electronic documentation.
The Corporate historical archive contains documentation of genuine significance, and we are working to make this available for research and other uses.
As of today, our Corporate historical archive contains almost two kilometres of documentation, in addition to the tens of thousands of photos, films, reports, drawings and other data that the Corporate historical archive has access to.
The documentation is available on a case-to-case basis and by prior appointment. We welcome your inquiry.
For documents related to the corporate historical archive of Equinor, please see Arkivportalen. This is a national search service representing a diversity of Norwegian archive institutions, including Statsarkivet, where Equinor's corporate historical documents are stored. The page is in Norwegian only, but search can be done in English.