Buying half of Neras

Statoil has bought half of the Norwegian company Neras, whose business activities include energy management for energy customers.

“The company’s expertise fits in with our new strategy of offering major energy customers flexible energy management solutions,” reports Mats Fredriksson, manager for electricity trading and supply in Statoil's oil trading and supply unit.

By major customers, Mr Fredriksson means companies that consume more than 100 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year, which is equal to the annual consumption of about 4000 average-sized homes in Norway.

The electricity trading and supply unit procures electricity for Statoil’s major industrial facilities, such as Mongstad near Bergen. The unit controls the price through mechanisms such as Nordpool (the Nordic Power Exchange), which is a commodity exchange for electrical power. The same service will now be offered to external customers.

Neras has around 30 employees and its main office is located outside Drammen, near Oslo. The company has activities in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Germany.