The shares have been acquired at a price of NOK 91.33 per share, and they will be passed on to employees in accordance with their savings amount.
Statoil established its share saving plan for employees in November 2004. Each month the agreed savings amount is deducted from the participants' salary, and shares are then awarded accordingly.
Following a two-year binding time, the group will award one bonus share for every two shares purchased. Employees in Norway also receive a 20-per-cent discount, up to a maximum NOK 1,500 limit.
Roughly half of all employees in Norway have purchased shares.