Summary:

Internationalization of companies has become a gradually more growing trend in today’s
modern and technological world. The Norwegian oil company StatoilHydro, has trough the
last 18 years focused heavily on getting their business abroad, to become an internationally
recognized multinational oil company. Strategic alliances and collaborations have been key
strategies in StatoilHydros effort to reach their international goals.
The objective of this research paper is to identify which critical events that StatoilHydro has
been trough in their effort to be a significant multinational company and how sustainable
development is increasingly becoming a key factor in their quest for international success. Via
a strategic alliance with British Petroleum, Statoil (which was the companys name back then)
took the first big step in the internationalization process during the early 1990s. This step has
been followed up with a part-privatization of the company through a listing of their stocks in
2001 to become a fixture on the stock exchange. A joint venture that created Statoil
Detaljhandel, after a partnership between ICA and Statoil, brought Statoil into the daily
groceries business in Scandinavia. The merger between Statoil and Hydro, which led to a
change in name to StatoilHydro, created an oil- and gas company which has a market value
that can be compared with some of the major companies in the oil industry. The merger is so
far the last big step that has been made from Statoil to increase its chances of success abroad.
Through an increasing focus on sustainable development, StatoilHydro has had up and downs
during the company’s efforts in Angola, Aserbajdsjan and Iran. StatoilHydro has not backed
down though and continues their mission to have sustainable development as a key factor for
their efforts abroad.