Norway: Statoil Petrol Retail Brand to Remain Despite Company Name Change

                                                      StatoilHydro was created by Statoil's 2007 acquisition of Norsk Hydro's  oil and gas activities. A name change has been planned from the outset, and shareholders will be asked next year to approve a new name, based on a proposal from the board.

"Irrespective of the name recommended by the board to the annual general meeting, the board finds it appropriate to keep Statoil as the name of the company's petrol station activity," StatoilHydro ASA said in a statement.

"Considerable values are tied to the company's name and position in this field, and based on the board's evaluation the company is best served by further developing this brand," it said.

StatoilHydro operates 2,000 Statoil-branded petrol stations in Scandinavia as well as stations in Poland, Russia and the Baltic countries. Its retail business in Ireland was sold in 2006 to Topaz Ltd where the Statoil brand is being replaced by the new Topaz brand.

StatoilHydro said if the group were to change the name of the filling stations, an estimated 90 percent of group rebranding costs would be in that area, but costs of around 1.9 billion Norwegian crowns ($325.8 million) can now be excluded. "The costs of the remaining rebranding activities have been estimated to be in the size of 150-200 million Norwegian crowns," the company said.

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