The quarterly result was negatively affected by a 41% drop in oil prices, partly offset by a 23% increase in the average price of natural gas and a 7% increase in lifted volumes of oil and gas.

In addition to low crude oil prices, the first quarter net income was influenced by currency effects and an unusually high effective tax rate. In the first quarter of 2009, net income was NOK 4.0 billion compared to NOK 16.0 billion in the same quarter a year ago.