Filed pursuant to Rule 425
of the Securities Act of 1933
Filer: Statoil ASA
Filer’s Exchange Act File No.: 1-15200
Norsk Hydro’s Exchange Act File No.: 1-9159
Notice
This document does not constitute an offer to exchange or sell or an offer to
exchange or buy any securities.
An offer of securities in the United States pursuant to a business combination
transaction will only be made through a prospectus which is part of an
effective registration statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange
Commission. Norsk Hydro shareholders who are US persons or are located in the
United States are advised to read the registration statement when and if it is
declared effective by the US Securities and Exchange Commission because it will
contain important information relating to the proposed transaction. You will
be able to inspect and copy the registration statement relating to the proposed
transaction and documents incorporated by reference at the SEC’s Public
Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549.
Statoil’s SEC filings are also available to the public at the SEC’s web site at
http://www.sec.gov. In addition, Statoil will make the effective registration
statement available for free to Norsk Hydro’s shareholders in the United
States.
Temporary
production decrease at Kvitebjørn
Operator Statoil (OSE:STL, NYSE:STO) and the licensees in the Kvitebjørn field
in the North Sea have decided to reduce gas and oil production temporarily to
enable sound reservoir management and safe drilling operations for the wells
remaining to be drilled.
Output will be reduced by 50% which entails a reduction from about 190,000
barrels of oil equivalent per day to roughly 95,000 barrels of oil equivalent
per day.
The reduction will take effect from 22 December 2006 for a period of five
months. For Statoil it will mean an average decrease of about 15,000 barrels of
oil equivalent per day in 2007. Continuous observation of the reservoir
pressure development will be used to assess the duration of the period of
reduced production.
The strategy now chosen is based on reservoir conditions and available methods
for drilling in reservoirs with high pressure and high temperature. The
strategy aims to reduce a reserve loss, enable continuation of the drilling
programme and secure future production levels.
Statoil will meet its
commitments to its gas customers during this period, including through increasing production from other fields. The effect on
Statoil’s total production in 2007 will therefore be smaller
than the reduction in production from Kvitebjørn.
Contact
information:
Jone Stangeland, vice president communication, tel. +47 91566869