Statoil has had a marketing and trading office in the USA since 1987.
The office is located in central Stamford, Connecticut, about an hour by train northeast of New York City.
The office’s main functions are marketing and trading related to the group’s oil and natural gas activities in North America via its Statoil Marketing & Trading (US) Inc and Statoil Natural Gas LLC subsidiaries.
It addition, it has investor relations and corporate risk functions and provides business support services in North America through Statoil North America Inc, the US holding company. The group has 167 employees in Stamford.
North America plays a strategically important role in the sale of oil and gas for Statoil and the Norwegian government. This continent accounts for more than a quarter of the world’s daily oil consumption, over 40% of its petrol use and roughly 30% of global natural gas consumption.
Consumers of Statoil’s oil products are located in north-eastern Canada, along the entire US east coast and in the refining centres on the US Gulf of Mexico.
Norwegian crude from Gullfaks, Heidrun, Norne, Grane and Troll are particularly suitable for the American market. The group also trades crudes from Africa, South America, Canada and the USA.
Shipments from Europe and west Africa are made in large crude carriers with cargo capacities of one-two million barrels.
The Mongstad refinery and the Kårstø gas processing plant on the Norwegian west coast are also important sources of petrol (gasoline) and natural gas liquids (NGLs) sold to the USA.
Storage is leased in the Bahamas for crude oil, the Port of New York for petrol and Mont Belvieu in Texas for liquefied petroleum gases (LPG). This boosts accessibility to inland markets through pipeline transport or shipments in small vessels.
Statoil Natural Gas LLC imports some 250,000 million British thermal units (BTU) per day (about 2.4 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year) in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG). These consignments pass through the Cove Point terminal on Chesapeake Bay near Baltimore, Maryland.
The majority of deliveries to existing capacity at Cove Point will be from the Snøhvit field in the Barents Sea, via Europe’s first gas liquefaction facility.
Additional capacity has also been secured at the terminal, allowing Statoil to send more than a billion cubic feet per day (about 10 bcm per year) of LNG to the USA from 2009.
Statoil is a strong supporter of the Norwegian-American business and cultural communities, and of numerous social and charitable organisations.