Business developments 

• On 21 February, Gazprom, Total and StatoilHydro signed a Shareholder Agreement for the creation of Shtokman Development AG for phase one of the Shtokman field.

• StatoilHydro ASA and Det norske oljeselskap ASA signed a sales and purchase agreement on 12 October for the transfer of Det norske oljeselskap's 15% interest in the Goliat field to StatoilHydro ASA. The transaction has effect from 1 January 2008. Also on 12 October, StatoilHydro Petroleum AS and Det norske oljeselskap ASA agreed on a swap of minor interests in three other licences.

• On 21 October, the European Commission announced that StatoilHydro has been granted permission to take over the bulk of the Jet retail chain in Scandinavia currently owned and operated by ConocoPhillips.

• On 12 November, StatoilHydro formed a strategic alliance with Chesapeake Energy Corporation to jointly explore unconventional gas opportunities worldwide. Under this agreement, we will initially acquire a 32.5% interest in Chesapeake's Marcellus shale gas acreage.

• On 11 December, StatoilHydro completed the full acquisition of the Peregrino heavy-oil field off the coast of Brazil, after closing the deal to acquire the additional 50% stake from Anadarko and make StatoilHydro the operator.

Access to new areas

• Internationally, StatoilHydro was the high bidder on 16 leases, 14 of which were joint bids with ENI Petroleum, in the Chukchi Sea Lease Sale 193 in Alaska announced on 6 February. StatoilHydro will be the operator of all 16 leases. In total, the group gained access to 20 new exploration licences during the year in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, Brazil, Canada and the Faroe Islands.

• In Norway, StatoilHydro was offered interests in 12 production licences in the Awards of Predefined Areas 2007 (APA 2007) on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). The company will be the operator of nine of the licences

Exploration activities

• StatoilHydro delivered an extensive exploration programme in 2008. Of a total of 79 exploration wells completed before 31 December 2008, 40 were drilled outside the NCS. Thirty-five wells were discoveries, eight of which are located outside the NCS. An additional eight wells have been completed since 31 December 2008.

Project development

• StatoilHydro maintained a high activity level in progressing projects into production. On 18 January, the plan for development and operation (PDO) of Yttergryta was submitted, only six months after the discovery was made. In 2008, StatoilHydro delivered three PDOs (Plan for Development and Operation) on the NCS: Yttergryta (18 January), Morvin (15 February) and the Troll Field project (27 June).

• Production from Gamma Main Statfjord on the Oseberg field in the North Sea commenced on 12 April, only 18 months after the oil deposit was proved. Production started from seven fields on the NCS during 2008: Volve (12 February), Gulltopp (7 April), Oseberg Gamma Main Statfjord (12 April), Vigdis East (15 April), Theta Cook (26 June), Oseberg Delta (27 June) and Vilje (1 August). Internationally, production commenced on Mondo in Angola (1 January), Deep Water Gunashli in Azerbaijan (22 April), Saxi and Batuque off the coast of Angola (1 July), the Agbami in Nigeria (29 July) and South Pars in Iran (1 October).

Production

• Total equity production increased by 5% from 2007 to 1,925 mboe per day in 2008. Total liquids and gas entitlement production increased by 2% from 1.724 mboe per day in 2007 to 1,751 mboe per day in 2008.

Market

• The first cargo of gas from the NCS arrived in the strategically important markets in the USA on 21 February and in Japan on 22 March.
• Gas filling of the storage caverns in the Aldbrough project in the UK started in August. This is a cooperative project for natural gas storage between the British company SSE Hornsea Limited (SSEHL) and StatoilHydro.

Technology and new energy

• StatoilHydro established a a research and development centre in Alberta, Canada to support the group's heavy oil business worldwide. By creating the Heavy Oil Technology Centre (HOTC), StatoilHydro wishes to explore academic partnerships and work with government and industry institutions, just as it has done in its operations in Norway and around the world. 
• The most complicated well in StatoilHydro's history, the Gulltopp well on the Gullfaks field in the North Sea, was successfully completed and hydrocarbons were flowing up through the well at 9910 metres. This is thus the longest producing well in the world drilled from an offshore platform. The well provides the company with valuable know how.   

Social responsibility and sustainable development

• StatoilHydro decided to build the world's first full-scale floating wind turbine, and test it over a two-year period off the coast of Karmøy.

• Production resumed on the Statfjord A platform on 28 May, after four days of shutdown due to an oil leak on Saturday 24 May. For safety reasons, a total of around 1,200 cubic metres of oily water were pumped to sea. This was done to ensure safety on board the platform following a leak in a pipe inside one of the shafts of the installation. Oil protection equipment and oil booms were deployed to collect a thin oil film around the Statfjord A platform.

• StatoilHydro submitted an external investigation report on the Libya matter to Norwegian and US authorities on 7 October. Consultancy agreements related to Norsk Hydro's earlier activities in Libya involve issues that could be problematic in relation to Norwegian and US anti-corruption legislation. The report has been submitted to the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime in Norway (Økokrim), to the US Department of Justice (DoJ), the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and to the relevant Libyan authorities.

• StatoilHydro and Indian oil company ONGC agreed on 6 February to jointly explore the potential of developing Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), and CDM (clean development mechanism) projects in India.

• Carbon injection and storage on the Snøhvit field started on 22 April. Instead of emitting the carbon dioxide (CO2) resulting from the well stream that comes from the Snøhvit field to the air, the CO2 is reinjected into the ground and stored in a formation that lies beneath the gas-bearing formations on the Snøhvit field.

• StatoilHydro submitted a plan for carbon capture at Mongstad to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and the Ministry of the Environment. The plan addresses the most important challenges and sums up key issues associated with the technical feasibility of carbon capture at Mongstad. This is the first step along the way towards full-scale carbon capture at Mongstad.