Statoil to be listed on stock exchange in June 2001

On 26 April 2001, the Norwegian parliament approved the proposed partial privatisation of the state-owned oil company, Statoil, and of the state's direct financial interest in petroleum operations. The intention is to have Statoil listed on the Oslo and New York stock exchanges in June 2001. The trade unions are divided on the privatisation issue.

On 26 April 2001, the Norwegian parliament (Stortinget) approved the proposed privatisation of the state-owned oil company, Statoil, and of the "state's direct financial interest in petroleum operations" (Statens direkte økonomiske engasjement, SDØE) (NO9909151N). The minority Labour Party (Det Norske Arbeiderparti, DnA) government, which had initially sought an agreement on the issue with the Centre Party (Senterpartiet, SP) and Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstre Parti, SV), managed to reach a compromise deal with the Conservative Party (Høyre), the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti, KRF) on 28 March 2001.

The compromise allows for the listing of Statoil on the Oslo and New York stock exchanges on 18 June 2001. The deal provides for the sale of approximately one-third of the company's shares, as well as the sale of 21.5% of the government's interests in the SDØE. It also opens up the prospect of further privatisation of Statoil at a later stage. After the stock exchange listing, Statoil may enter into strategic alliances and joint ventures with other companies. Statoil was also given the right to buy 15% of SDØE assets, while 6.5% is to be divided between the other Norwegian oil company, Norsk Hydro, and a number of foreign companies. The four political parties also agreed to establish a state-owned public limited company in charge of administering the remaining government assets in the SDØE. Finally, the responsibility for operating gas pipelines from Norway to the continent will be transferred from Statoil to a state-owned public limited company.

The road to privatisation of Statoil has been market by intense debate and controversy in Norway, not least within the ruling Labour Party itself. Nevertheless, in November 2000 a majority of delegates at the Labour Party's convention voted in favour of a partial privatisation, a decision that also allowed the government considerable scope of manoeuvre in entering into agreements over the issue in parliament (NO0011111F).

The trade union movement is also divided on the issue. Within the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO), the main line of tension is found between those unions organising manufacturing industry workers (generally in favour of some privatisation) and those organising public sector employees (generally opposed). However, the Norwegian Oil and Petrochemical Workers' Union (Norsk Olje- og petrokjemisk Fagforbund, NOPEF), which is the largest trade union within Statoil as well as an LO affiliate, is supportive of a partial privatisation of Statoil. The Confederation of Vocational Unions (Yrkesorganisasjonenes Sentralforbund, YS) is generally opposed to any move towards what it regards as a fragmentation of the company, because it is afraid it will weaken Statoil's developmental prospects and endanger employment within the company. The Federation of Offshore Workers' Trade Union (Oljearbeidernes Fellessammenslutning, OFS), which is the other oil workers' union within Statoil and an affiliate of YS, is also greatly opposed to privatisation, and warns that if market forces are allowed to determine further developments in Norwegian oil-related industries, it will lead to a dramatic weakening of Norway's macroeconomic interests.