No oil company has better prospects in Norway than Statoil despite today's troubled times, according to a new survey.
Carried out by the ScanFacts organisation, this Image 99 poll covering Norwegian industry shows that the group has the best image in the downstream sector for all categories except price.
Statoil is perceived as Norway's leading petrol retailer today and as the indisputable market leader in five years' time.
The group ranks as the most dynamic and exciting company in its sector, reports ScanFacts This is described as a strong performance for an industry leader.
And Statoil has a very positive image for information, marketing and innovation, and takes first place in the first and second of these categories.
It comes second to Norsk Hydro for ethics and social responsibility.
The Image 99 survey covered 295 companies in 37 industry sectors, and evaluated Statoil's Norwegian service station business separately from the patent company.
But the overall assessment of the upstream business in Norway has gone down from 1998, with Statoil's image declining rather more than the industry's total performance. This applies particularly to the financial aspect.
The ScanFacts survey shows that the oil industry has a poor image in general, coming 34th among the 37 industries. Polling was carried out in the first two months of 1999.