Norway: Petroleum Policy, Statoil Formation and State Management (1969–1999)

1. Norway proclaims sovereignty over its continental shelf

   May 31, 1963Labels: Norwegian state, Continental shelf

   • Petroleum Museum
   • Ekofisk History

2. First licensing round opens Norwegian offshore exploration

   Jan 1, 1965Labels: Licensing round, Offshore exploration

   • Ekofisk History

3. Ekofisk discovery reveals major petroleum potential

   Dec 24, 1969Labels: Ekofisk field

   • Sodir Factpage
   • NorwegianPetroleum

4. Storting issues the “10 Oil Commandments”

   Jun 7, 1971Labels: Storting, 10 Oil

   • Industriminne

5. Statoil is created as Norway’s state oil company

   Jul 14, 1972Labels: Statoil, Norwegian parliament

   • SEC Filing
   • Statoil History

6. Norwegian Petroleum Directorate is established

   Jul 14, 1972Labels: Norwegian Petroleum

   • Offshore Dir

7. First major gas sales deal supports export strategy

   Jan 1, 1973Labels: Gas sales

   • ConocoPhillips

8. Statfjord discovery accelerates large-scale development

   Feb 19, 1974Labels: Statfjord field

   • Petroleum Museum
   • NorwegianPetroleum

9. Norpipe gas pipeline begins exports to Germany

   Sep 8, 1977Labels: Norpipe pipeline

   • ConocoPhillips
   • Ekofisk History
   • Gassco Norpipe

10. Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is created

    Jan 11, 1978Labels: Ministry of, Government

    • Ministry Info

11. Statfjord starts production, boosting state revenues

    Nov 24, 1979Labels: Statfjord production

    • Equinor Archive
    • Offshore Tech

12. SDFI is established to separate state income from Statoil

    Jan 1, 1985Labels: SDFI, State ownership

    • Statfjord History
    • SDFI Overview

13. Statpipe gas transport system comes into operation

    Oct 15, 1985Labels: Statpipe system

    • Equinor Archive
    • Statpipe

14. Mongstad cost overrun triggers governance crisis at Statoil

    Dec 4, 1987Labels: Mongstad refinery, Statoil

    • UPI Archive
    • Industriminne

15. Government Petroleum Fund is established by law

    Jan 1, 1990Labels: Government Petroleum, Storting

    • NBIM History
    • Norges Bank

16. First transfer to the Petroleum Fund begins active saving

    Jan 1, 1996Labels: Petroleum Fund, Government Petroleum

    • NBIM History
    • Norges Bank