Equinor — Capital/Financing Update 2010

Oct 11, 2010

Statoil enters Eagle Ford shale - Strengthens US onshore portfolio

Statoil ASA (OSE: STL, NYSE: STO) is strengthening and diversifying its US

onshore portfolio by entering the Eagle Ford shale area. Through agreements with

Enduring Resources, LLC and Talisman Energy Inc., Statoil will acquire 67,000

net acres in the Eagle Ford shale formation in Southwest Texas.

"The magnitude of the shale resources in North America and the significant role

these resources are expected to play in the future energy mix make this an

attractive opportunity," says John Knight, senior vice president, business

development and global unconventional gas.

"This Eagle Ford position complements Statoil's existing US onshore portfolio,

supplying a different range of hydrocarbons to different markets, and it also

has a clear path towards operatorship. We now have a long term flexible

portfolio with significant optionality and growth potential from the top shale

plays," Knight continues.

Statoil and Talisman have formed a 50/50 joint venture for the purpose of

developing assets in the Eagle Ford shale. As part of the joint venture, Statoil

and Talisman have jointly acquired the Eagle Ford assets of Enduring, comprising

97,000 acres (48,500 net to Statoil), in a $1.325 billion transaction. The

purchase price equates to about US$10,900 per acre.

Furthermore, Statoil will acquire 50% of Talisman's existing Eagle Ford acreage

and production for $180 million (18,500 acres net to Statoil).  As a result,

Statoil and Talisman will together hold 134,000 net Eagle Ford acres and

associated assets and production in the joint venture.

The two transactions amount to a total consideration for Statoil of $843 million

and will deliver recoverable Statoil resources of approximately 550 million

barrels of oil equivalent.

In addition, the companies have an option to jointly acquire up to 22,000 net

acres.

Initially, Talisman will take the lead as operator for the total acreage with

Statoil taking over the operatorship of 50% of the acreage within three years.

Governance in the joint venture will be shared equally between the two partners

from the start.

"We are pleased to enter into this joint venture with Talisman, an experienced

operator in several North American shale plays. We look forward to working

together with them in developing and producing these assets in a safe and

efficient manner," says John Knight.

Enduring operates 90% of its leases and this acreage is located in an

attractive, liquids rich area of the Eagle Ford play.  Statoil expects that a

significant proportion of the revenue from Statoil's Eagle Ford acreage will

come from gas liquids and condensate which are competitively located to be sold

into the petrochemical and refinery centres in Texas.

The effective date of the transaction is August 1, 2010. The transaction is

expected to close by the end of this year.

Additional material on the transaction is available at www.statoil.com.

Morgan Stanley acted as an advisor to Statoil on this transaction.

Conference call

There will be a conference call with CFO Eldar Sætre and SVP John Knight Monday

11 October at 15:45 CET (09:45 EST)

For participation in the conference call please call:

+44 (0)20 7138 0825                              UK International Toll

800 19639                                                   Norway Toll Free

0800 032 4094                                             UK Toll Free

1866 239 0750                                             USA Toll Free

Confirmation Code:                                        8662548

Participants will have to quote the above code when dialling into the conference

Contacts

Investor relations:

Hilde Merete Nafstad, vice president, investor relations Norway, +47 95 78 39 11

Morten Sven Johannessen, vice president, investor relations North America,

+1 203 978 6950 (office) or +1 203 570 2524 (mobile)

Media:

Bård Glad Pedersen, media relations manager, +47 918 01 791

Ola Morten Aanestad, vice president, media relations, North America,

+1 713 485 2174 (office), or +1 713 498 0585 (mobile)

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements acc. to §5-12 vphl

(Norwegian Securities Trading Act)

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