Under this Act, dividends may only be paid in respect of a financial period for which audited financial statements have been approved by the annual general meeting of shareholders, and any proposal to pay a dividend must be recommended by the board of directors, accepted by the corporate assembly and approved by the shareholders at a general meeting. The shareholders at the annual general meeting may vote to reduce, but may not increase, the dividend proposed by the board of directors.

We can only distribute dividends (1) if our equity, based on StatoilHydro ASA is unconsolidated balance sheet, amounts to 10% or more of the total assets reflected in our unconsolidated balance sheet without following a creditor notice procedure as required for reducing the share capital, (2) to the extent compatible with good and careful business practice with due regard to any losses that we may have incurred after the last balance sheet date or that we may expect to incur, and (3) provided that the dividend to be distributed is calculated on the basis of our unconsolidated financial statements.

Although we currently intend to pay annual dividends on our ordinary shares, we cannot assure that dividends will be paid or the amount of any dividends. Future dividends will depend on a number of factors prevailing at the time our board of directors considers any dividend payment. 

The following table shows the cash dividend amounts paid to all shareholders since 2006 on a per share basis and in the aggregate, as well as cash dividends proposed by our board of directors to be paid in 2009 on our ordinary shares for the fiscal year 2008.

	Per ordinary share¹
	Ordinary dividend	Special dividend	Total dividend	Total
Year	NOK	NOK	NOK	Billion NOK
2004	3.20	2.10	5.30	11.5
2005	3.60	4.60	8.20	17.8
2006	4.00	5.12	9.12	19.7
2007	4.20	4.30	8.50	27.1
2008	4.40	2.85	7.25	23.1
(1)	For fiscal years 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, and 2004 the total dividend per share consisted of an ordinary dividend and a special dividend. The 2008 dividend is expected to be paid in the end of May 2009.

In 2006, 2007 and 2008, the total dividend per share consisted of an ordinary dividend and a special dividend. The total cash dividend per share proposed by the board of directors for 2009 also includes an ordinary dividend and a special dividend. The special dividends paid in these years are the result of increased annual net income due to higher realised oil and gas prices. There is no guarantee that special dividends will be paid in the future, even if higher oil and gas prices are sustained over time.

Since we will only pay dividends in Norwegian kroner, exchange rate fluctuations will affect the US dollar amounts received by holders of ADSs after the ADR depositary converts cash dividends into US dollars.

Share repurchases

Share repurchases are an integrated part of our dividend policy. For the period 2008-2009 the board did not request the annual general meeting in StatoilHydro for an authorisation to repurchase StatoilHydro shares in the market for subsequent cancellation, and StatoilHydro therefore did not buy any shares for cancellation in 2008.  We did not undertake any share repurchases in 2008 and 2007, and no shares were acquired in the market for subsequent annulment. In 2006, 20,158,848 shares were repurchased totalling NOK 3.3 billion.

There is no guarantee that share repurchases will continue in the future. Future share repurchases will depend on the authorisation of our shareholders, as well as a number of factors prevailing at the time our board of directors considers any share repurchase.