Electricity prices charged by Statoil to customers in Sweden will be cut by 21 per cent on 1 October.
Being offered to buyers with quarterly contracts, this reduction to SEK 0.167 per kilowatt hour applies for the fourth quarter.
Statoil is also cutting power prices to new customers who sign a quarterly contract with the company. They will pay SEK 0.159 per kilowatt hour from 1 May 1999, reflecting the lower cost of purchasing electricity in summer months.
The power prices being offered by the group are among the lowest in Sweden, where the national average rate for a detached home with electric heating is SEK 0.255 per kilowatt hour.
Although many Swedish electricity consumers pay almost twice the Statoil price, relatively few people opt to change supplier.
This could be related to competitive constraints in the Swedish market, believes Patrik Westander, project manager for electricity at Statoil Sweden.
"We're offering the same low price to all households. But today's requirements on installing a new electricity meter at a cost of SEK 2,500 and six months notice of cancellation mean that changing supplier is primarily interesting to larger consumers."