On June 29, 2004, Statoil was found guilty of corruption by the Norwegian courts and was ordered to pay NOK 20 million in fines.
[2] Statoil's Director for International Operations, Richard John Hubbard was also ordered to pay NOK 200,000 in fines for his involvement in the case.
Hubbard’s actions led to one of the largest fines ever imposed by the United States for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The settlement also stipulated that no Statoil employee or representative for the company could make any statements to the media that contradicted the verdict for the next three years.
[4] Former Iranian ambassador to Norway and defector Perviz Khazai criticized Statoil strongly for its business methods in Iran.
When asked to make a comment on the case by Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, he said, "It is true that you can hardly get into these countries without using agents or advisers.