OREANDA-NEWS. May 05, 2011. Statoil's first quarter 2011 net operating income was NOK 50.7 billion, a 28% increase compared to NOK 39.6  billion in the first quarter of 2010. The quarterly result was mainly affected by a 33% increase in the average prices for liquids measured in NOK, a 20% increase in average gas prices, and a 12 % decrease in liftings, when compared to the same period last year.

"In the first quarter of 2011 we delivered good financial results and passed important industrial milestones. Through the Skrugard discovery and the new acreage awarded Statoil in the Barents Sea, we take new steps in opening a new energy frontier in the North", says Helge Lund, Statoil's chief executive officer.

Statoil has started production and closed the deals that bring industrial partners into its Leismer and Peregrino field developments. Statoil's operatorship of these assets in Canada and Brazil has created substantial shareholder value.

Statoil has announced important discoveries in Norway and Brazil, accessed new attractive acreage, including the nomination for operatorship of pre-salt blocks in Angola, and received drilling permits for two exploration wells in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, Statoil has submitted plan for development and production for two new projects in Norway and sanctioned new projects in Canada and Algeria.

Total equity production was 1,971 mboe per day in the first quarter of 2011 compared to 2,102 mboe per day in the first quarter of 2010. The production has developed in line with expectations. Statoil expects equity production in 2011 to be around the 2010 level, or slightly below. Equity production for 2012 is expected to grow with around 3% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) based on the actual 2010 equity production.

Adjusted earnings in the first quarter of 2011 were NOK 47.3 billion, compared to NOK 38.9 billion in the first quarter of 2010. Net income in the first quarter of 2011 was NOK 16.1 billion compared to NOK 11.1 billion in the same period last year. This result reflects higher prices for both liquids and gas, a gain on NOK 5.3 billion net of tax from the 40% Kai Kos Dehseh oil sands divestment, and lower net financial losses, partly offset by reduced liftings and higher taxes.