Statoil becomes Equinor

The big energy companies are changing over: As fossil fuels such as oil and gas are increasingly being pushed into the background or disappearing from the portfolio altogether and are being replaced by renewable energies, this is also to be reflected in the names of the companies.

At the end of last year, the Danish company DONG Energy already changed its name to Ørsted. DONG stands for "Danish Oil and Natural Gas". However, after the company had divested all its fossil fuel business, the intention was to make the cut clear in the name of the company. Accompanied by an appropriate advertising campaign, the renaming was launched. Meanwhile Ørsted, the largest developer of offshore wind energy, is named after Hans Christian Ørsted, the Danish co-founder of electricity teaching.

Norway, which owes its wealth primarily to the production of oil and gas, has also been changing its thinking for some time now. The obvious reference to "oil" in the name of the largest Norwegian company Statoil is rather unpleasant, especially as there will be a greater desire to promote renewable energies in the future, even though there will be no radical departure from fossil fuels.

“For us, this is a historic day. Statoil has for almost 50 years served us well.  Looking towards the next 50 years, reflecting on the global energy transition and how we are developing as a broad energy company, it has become natural to change our name. The name Equinor captures our heritage and values, and what we aim to be in the future,” says Statoil’s President and CEO Eldar Sætre.

The name Equinor is made up of the combination of "equi", the starting point for terms such as "equals, equality and equilibrium" and "nor", thus signalling a company that is proud of its Norwegian heritage and wants to use it actively in its positioning.

“Equinor is a powerful expression of who we are, where we come from and what we aspire to be. We are a values-based company, and equality describes how we want to approach people and the societies where we operate. The Norwegian continental shelf will remain the backbone of our company, and we will use our Norwegian heritage in our positioning as we continue growing internationally within both oil, gas and renewable energy,” says Sætre.

The new name will be proposed to the shareholders by resolution of the Annual General Meeting on 15 May. As the Norwegian government, as the majority shareholder, supports the proposal, the decision to change the name is regarded as certain.