Out of Pipes: We have made our entrance into the LNG area. To become a gas producer also outside the European market, STATOIL had to venture out to reservoirs far away from any pipelines north of Norway. As a producer and supplier of piped gas from Norwegian continental shelf to the European region, the company is developing into an LNG supplier with a much wider market. Moreover, STATOIL has substantial gas resources in the Caspian. It is our ambition to grow our gas business until we become a world-scale gas producer and supplier.
Last year, gas accounted for 25% of our total production, but it accounted for 55% of our resources. That shows the direction in which we are heading. To move outside of the piped–gas world requires technology and we are working on LNG not only in Norway, but also off Africa. We have also been working on qualifying technology for gas to liquids for many many years, and we are almost there. This is actually an area where STATOIL sees very very interesting opportunities in Iran, working together with NIOC. At the same time, we have come a long way in commercialization of GTL.

An Interesting Partnership: Why is it that we are in Iran? Well, first of all, STATOIL and NIOC share the same view on the interesting potential of gas, as the fuel of the future. As the National Oil Company of Norway, we have built a lot of experience in developing the gas resources. Development projects on the Norwegian shelf have given STATOIL some skills that will be of benefit also in other parts of the world. Our company has come far in sub-sea production technology.
Based on our policy of expanding business on solid basis, we are now working with NIOC to see how we can share our technology and develop it further so we can exploit the opportunities present in this gas and oil-rich country. We think those opportunities are really interesting and really challenging.

7th Flr., Aryan Bldg.,
174 Mirdamad Blvd., Tehran
Tel: (+98 21) 225 63 30-4
Fax: (+98 21) 225 63 35