Norway's Statoil reports 5 pct uptick in profit

By IAN MacDOUGALL

OSLO

Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA posted a 5 percent rise in third-quarter profits, saying gains on currency values helped offset sagging oil and gas prices.

State-controlled Statoil on Wednesday said net profit for the July through September period inched up to 6.6 billion kroner ($1.1 billion) from 6.3 billion kroner in 2008.

Revenue slipped to 123.1 billion kroner in the third quarter from 174.5 billion kroner the year before.

Statoil share prices closed up 2.4 percent, at 138.9 kroner ($24.29), on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

Chief Executive Officer Helge Lund said that the company delivered "solid financial and operational results" in the third quarter, but warned that the current financial climate still called for "cautiousness."

"Although we see signs of improvement in the global economy, there is no firm evidence that industry investment, employment and private consumption have recovered in a sustainable way," Lund said. He added that Statoil "is continuing to reduce costs."

The Stavanger-based group, which sells oil and gas in U.S. dollars, said gains on currency exchange and low interest rates on the dollar offset a plummet in crude and gas prices. Oil prices were down 31 percent year-on-year, while gas prices have dropped by 32 percent.

Trond Omdal, an analyst at Arctic Securities, said Statoil's returns were "slightly better than expected," citing sustained production across the oil concern's domestic and international operations.

Statoil said its oil and gas production for the quarter averaged 1.87 million barrels of oil equivalents per day, compared with 1.73 million barrels of oil equivalents a year earlier. Oil equivalents measure the energy content, rather than volume, of oil and gas.

Statoil is the main oil producer on the Norwegian continental shelf, and has about 30,000 employees in more than 40 countries.

The company announced in May that it planned to change its name from StatoilHydro to Statoil. The change went into effect Nov. 1.

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