Statoil ASA's net profits for first quarter declined 27 percent from a year earlier due mainly to lower oil and natural gas prices, the company said Wednesday.
Norway's state-controlled company said its net profit for the January through March quarter was 7.83 billion kroner ($1.3 billion) compared to 10.78 billion kroner a year earlier.
It said average realized oil prices declined 11 percent and gas prices fell 14 percent during the same period.
"We are delivering strong results despite lower oil and gas prices," Statoil's Chief Executive Helge Lund said.
The Stavanger-based group said revenues for the quarter were 100.17 billion kroner ($16.6 billion), compared to 111.73 billion kroner a year earlier. The group changed is accounting system on Jan. 1 to meet the International Financial Reporting Standards, and said the year earlier result had been adjusted to make it comparable.
Statoil shares fell 1.20 percent to 164.50 kroner ($27.28) in morning trading on the Oslo stock exchange.
Lund said the production increases and starts from some of its projects had been slowed by technological problems.
The company said production of oil and natural gas, when measured in oil equivalents, declined to 1.199 million barrels per day in the first quarter from 1.237 million barrels per day a year earlier. Oil equivalents measure energy content, rather than volume, of oil and gas.
"We are facing some technical challenges, mainly related to the pioneering high temperature and high pressure fields Kvitebjoern and Kristin," said Lund. "While addressing these short term challenges, we are continuing to build positions for future growth."
In December, Statoil announced plans to take over the oil division of smaller Norwegian rival Norsk Hydro ASA, and Lund said that process was on track.
Lund also said that during the quarter, Statoil agreed to take over the Canadian company North American Oil Sands Corp. in a $2 billion deal. He also said the company acquired new exploration acreage in Tanzania and Indonesia.
Statoil, with about 25,000 employees in 33 countries, was founded in 1972 by the government, which began to partly privatize the group in 2001.
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