Foreword by Helge Lund, President & CEO StatoilHydro

The year 2009 will go into history as one of the weakest in terms of economic growth. The downturn has been global in reach and deeply influenced all industries. The oil & gas sector has been no exception. Pessimism in the world economy is however now fading as markets and indicators edge up, but uncertainty still prevails. There could be a long and shaky recovery towards more normal conditions.

In Statoil, we regard continuously improved operational performance across our business as the best protection against the uncertainty. In this period, we have used the situation to reduce cost, improve quality and reinforce capital discipline. On the Norwegian Continental Shelf, we have established a new organisation that will strengthen HSE, further improve the quality and efficiency of our operations and enable us to make better use of our people and resources.

The change process on the NCS is a direct response to the industrial challenges we are facing. For Statoil, the NCS continues to be the backbone of this company and our commitment to take out the full potential stands firm. This is however an increasingly difficult task. We see that production is in decline, our installations are aging and discoveries and developments are getting smaller. We are now to a large extent leaving a phase dominated be growth and groundbreaking projects. But we have an optimistic view on the resource potential on the NCS and will continuously work hard to develop the resources in a safe and efficient way.

Internationally, Statoil is gradually increasing its footprint by taking on important operatorships in promising areas like the Gult of Mexico, Brasil and Canada. Since 2001 our production outside of Norway has increased five-fold and our journey continues. Therefore, the Norwegian energy adventure is set to carry on – in Norway and internationally.