It merged with the oil and gas division of Norsk Hydro in 2007 and was known as StatoilHydro until 2009, when the name was changed back to Statoil ASA.

Den Norske Stats Oljeselskap A/S (Norwegian State Oil Company) was founded as a private limited company owned by the Government of Norway on 14 July 1972 by a unanimous act passed by the Storting, the Norwegian parliament.

In December 2006 Statoil revealed a proposal to merge with the oil business of Norsk Hydro, a Norwegian conglomerate.

[2] Under the rules of the EEA the proposal was approved by the European Union on 3 May 2007[3] and by the Norwegian Parliament on 8 June 2007.

[4] Former Statoil's shareholders hold 67.3% of the new company StatoilHydro, which started operations on 1 October 2007.

[4] In November 2009, StatoilHydro changed its name to simply Statoil, following a prolonged name debate that sparked considerable public interest.

The company was searching for oil in the region, which environmentalists were against because they wanted the sensitive area free from pollution.

In March, Statoil dropped about 1.6 tons of pure hydraulic oil in the Barents Sea.

[9] In 1991 there arose a controversy between Statoil and local environmentalists, mainly from Natur og Ungdom and Friends of the Earth Norway, who protested the building of a new research and development centre at Rotvoll in Trondheim, Norway, wetlands area close to the city with significant bird life.