Unions support Statoil name change

Following Statoil’s proposal to change the name of the company to Equinor to support the company’s strategy and development as a broad energy company, all five unions organizing Statoil employees have expressed their support for the proposition. 

The name Equinor is formed by combining “equi”, the starting point for words like equal, equality and equilibrium, and “nor”, signalling a company proud of its Norwegian origin, and who wants to use this actively in its positioning, Statoil explained earlier on Thursday while announcing the name change.

Statoil said later on Thursday that the five unions  – Industri Energi, SAFE, NITO, Tekna and Lederne – support the proposal by the board of directors to the annual general meeting to change the name.

Per M. Labråthen (Industri Energi), Bjørn Asle Teige (SAFE), Stig Lægreid (NITO), Lars Olav Grøvik (Tekna) and Hallstein Tonning (Lederne) said in a joint statement on Thursday: “It is important that Statoil remains prepared and competitive in a low carbon future.”

“The company’s strategy and its development into a broad energy company are future-oriented. This makes it natural to adopt a name that better reflects all energy forms that the company will produce; oil, natural gas and renewables.”

“We are proud of our Norwegian heritage, of the company’s history, and of Statoil’s ambition to be the leading and most carbon-efficient producer of oil and gas.”

The unions further added: “At the same time, energy will in the future increasingly come from renewable sources, and we are already seeing how we can utilise our competence within the area of renewables.”

“We are and will remain a values-based company and we are proud of our Norwegian origin. We therefore support the proposal by management and the board of directors that we as of 16 May will be called Equinor.”