STATOIL

Another issue is the investment comparison between different upstream oil & gas companies; Statoil is not the only upstream company with impairment losses, especially if the issue is North-American Unconventional oil and gas investments. The Statoil Marcellus acquisition in 2008 was probably overoptimistic regarding the upside potential of the acreage, similar to other companies land-grab acquisition strategies not taking into account the heterogeneous geology of shale acreage. Apart from focused US on-shore upstream companies, Statoil is one of the Major oil companies with large impairment losses of about 7.5 bn USD related to US shale (excl oil sands). Shell is another European Major Oil company with large impairment losses related to US unconventional shale. But reporting under different accounting standards makes comparison between Major US oil companies (such as ExxonMobil) and Major European Oil companies (such as Shell) difficult. US Major Oil companies reports under the US..