Our four focus areas are:

• Deep waters - We will further develop our position as a leading deepwater operator. New technology made it possible to develop the Ormen Lange field with subsea installations only. We will also build on the experience gained on the Tordis field, where subsea separation and water injection is used. This experience transfer is expected to significantly increase the final recovery factors in some of the most challenging reservoirs in deep waters that we are working on, for example in the Gulf of Mexico.

• Gas value chains - Statoil has long and valuable experience in gas value chains and has demonstrated its capabilities in the monetisation of significant, often remote, gas resources. This experience will be a valuable contribution to future projects, such as Shah Deniz II and the large Marcellus shale gas accumulation. 

• Harsh environments - Statoil has the ability to deliver cutting edge field developments in harsh conditions under the strictest environmental regulations. With our long experience of development and operations off the coast of Norway, we have a competitive advantage to build on. The Snøhvit field in the Barents Sea is a project that brings natural gas to land for liquefaction and export. The onshore plant is the first of its kind in Europe and the world's northernmost liquefied natural gas facility.

• Heavy oil - We are well positioned through operatorships and ownership interests in several key heavy oil projects. In the Peregrino field off the coast of Brazil and the Bressay and Mariner fields off the coast of the UK, we will utilise our experience from fields such as Grane in the North Sea. For our large, long-term resource base in Canadian oil sands, we will draw on experiences from our involvement in the subsurface aspects of the Venezuelan Petrocedeño project. The development will benefit from technological advances deriving from research and development work at the Statoil heavy oil technology centre in Canada. The research centre is among other tasks working on improving energy efficiency, reducing emissions, and thus also reducing operating costs related to the production of heavy oil. 

These focus areas all draw on the strong technical and project execution skills we have acquired through our experience on the Norwegian continental shelf. We access resources by establishing new growth platforms with the potential of becoming new focus areas; through advanced exploration activities and high-grading of exploration prospects, focused business development and long-term partnerships with national energy companies.

Iraq is our latest new platform and we have succeeded in establishing a foothold in competition with other companies. It is one of the countries in the world with the highest remaining hydrocarbon production potential, and it has been closed for foreign investment for more than 30 years. Statoil has entered into a partnership with Lukoil, one of the largest onshore operators in the world.

Our international access strategy has increased the scale of our operations in terms of produced volumes, reserves and technological and geographical breadth. We aim to build a robust, diverse and long-life portfolio which can increase our opportunities in the future.