Like every other European oil and gas major, Norway's Statoil (STL.OL) has suffered as a result of the pull-back in crude prices, but the state-backed energy giant has added pressure in that it plays the central role in supporting the nation's massive sovereign wealth fund.
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The problem came home at the start of the month when the group revealed that it was offering to pay shareholders dividends in stock after logging a net loss of NOK 9.2bn (£741m) for the fourth quarter of 2015. Norway's government, which owns 67 percent of the group, backs the plan, which seeks to ease the pressure on Statoil's balance sheet.