Profit before financial items came to NOK 12.2 billion, up by almost 85 per cent from 1998, while profit before tax rose from NOK 4.3 billion to NOK 13.2 billion.

Return on capital employed improved from 1.4 per cent to 4.7 per cent.

Higher oil prices and substantial cost reductions were the primary reasons for the positive progress in Statoil’s results.

However, the level of profit demonstrates that efforts to restructure and to reduce costs must be stepped up throughout the group. Statoil’s most important task in the short term will be to strengthen its profitability and competitiveness.

The immediate objective is to achieve a profitability — measured by return on capital employed — of at least 10 per cent from 2001. This improvement will be necessary to put Statoil on a par with its international competitors.