Statoil Deepens Cuts to Maintain Dividends Amid Crude Slump
- Statoil cuts investments to $13 billion, 35% lower than 2014
- Introduces scrip dividend, maintains 22 cents for quarter
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Statoil ASA, Norway’s biggest oil company, deepened investment cuts and offered to pay dividends in stock as it pledged to maintain shareholder payouts even as a collapse in crude prices eroded earnings. The shares surged.
The company said it plans to reduce capital expenditure to $13 billion this year from a revised $14.7 billion in 2015, after reporting a 63 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday. Statoil boosted a target for 2016 cost savings to $2.5 billion from $1.7 billion.