Our independent registered public accounting firm (independent auditor) is independent in relation to StatoilHydro and is appointed by the general meeting of shareholders. The auditor's fee must be approved by the general meeting.

Pursuant to the rules of procedure, the board's audit committee is responsible for ensuring that the company is subject to an independent and effective external and internal audit.

When evaluating the independent auditor, emphasis is placed on the firm's competence, capacity, local and international availability and the size of the fee.

The board's audit committee evaluates and makes a recommendation regarding the choice of independent auditor, and it is responsible for ensuring that the independent auditor meets the requirements of the authorities in Norway and in the countries where StatoilHydro is listed on the stock exchange. The independent auditor is subject to the provisions of US securities legislation, which stipulate that a responsible partner may not lead the engagement for more than five consecutive years.

The board's audit committee considers all reports from the independent auditor before they are considered by the board of directors. The audit committee holds regular meetings with the external auditor without the company's management being present.

Audit committee pre-approval policies and procedures

All services provided by the independent auditor must be pre-approved by the audit committee. Provided that the suggested types of services are permissible under SEC guidelines, pre-approval is usually granted at a regular audit committee meeting. The chair of the audit committee has been given the authority to pre-approve services according to policies established by the audit committee specifying in detail the types of services at quality, provided that any services pre-approved in this manner are presented to the full audit committee at its next meeting. Some pre-approvals may therefore be granted by the chair of the audit committee if an urgent reply is deemed necessary.

Remuneration to independent auditor in 2008

Ernst & Young AS is the company's independent registered public accounting firm. The table below itemises the expensed remuneration paid to the external auditor in 2008 (and 2007 and 2006, respectively):

Audit services are defined as the standard audit work that needs to be performed each year in order to issue an opinion on the consolidated financial statements of StatoilHydro, and to issue reports on the IFRSs statutory financial statements. It also includes other audit services which are those services that only the independent auditor can reasonably provide, such as auditing of non-recurring transactions and the application of new accounting policies, audits of significant and newly implemented system controls and limited reviews of quarterly financial results.

Audit related services include those other assurance and related services provided by auditors, but not restricted to those that can only reasonably be provided by the external auditor signing the audit report, that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of the company's financial statements such as acquisition due diligence, audits of pension and benefit plans, consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards.

In addition to the figures in the table above, the audit fee of NOK 39.4 million and an audit-related fee of NOK 5.6 million were paid to Deloitte in 2006. Audit fees amounting to NOK 8.5 million, NOK 6.1 million and NOK 4.0 million relating to StatoilHydro-operated licences were paid to Ernst & Young for the years 2008, 2007 and 2006, respectively.

The increases in audit fees and audit related and other fees from 2006 to 2007 and from 2007 to 2008 are mainly due to the increase in activity in connection with the merger with Hydro 's oil and energy business.