Equinor should not re-sign agreements like in Angola – E24

This week, Stavanger Aftenblad / E24 has written several cases about Equinor’s operations in Angola.

Between 2011 and 2016, Equinor paid NOK 420 million to Angolan state oil company Sonangol for a research facility that has yet to be built. In addition, Equinor paid 295 million for “social projects”, which do not know what it has been used for.

Read previous E24 cases on Equinor in Angola here:

– Now the company must learn

Per Steinar Stamnes is the shelf manager for the Industri Energi union at Equinor. He reacts strongly to what has emerged about the company’s operations in Angola.

– It is incredibly sad that such a case arises. It’s not good for the reputation of the company, says Stamnes.

It is aware that Equinor should not enter into similar agreements again.

– Absolutely not. Now the company must learn from these experiences and mistakes that have been made, says Stamnes, stressing that it is particularly regrettable that this has happened in a country ravaged by corruption like Angola.

Equinor has repeatedly stated that Sonangol is responsible for the implementation of the projects that Equinor has been funding and for providing information on the use of the money.

– The answers are not good enough. If you have to pay a lot of money, I want guarantees that they will go where they go, says Stamnes.

Strong reactions

Stamnes says there have been massive backlash from Industri Energi members in recent days.

– They wonder what the company is doing. People are tired and tired, he says.

Stamnes notes that the Norwegian continental shelf is undergoing change, rationalization and cutbacks. Talk about workers who are concerned about their work.

– And then we waste money abroad.

It refers to the revelations by Dagens Næringsliv earlier this year, that Equinor has lost $ 20 billion in the United States, and now the E24 cases about activities in Angola.

– It will never end. Whats Next? Stamnes asks.

– Hard to understand

Bjørn Asle Teige, Safe in Equinor shop steward, agrees with Stamnes.

– It is quite clear that this does not look good. Equinor should not enter into agreements of this type in which the use of the money cannot be documented, Teige says.

– It is a bit difficult to understand that such large amounts have been disbursed, he adds.

Payments of social security contributions until 2016 were a requirement to join the licensing round in 2011. Teige believes that Equinor should not enter into such agreements.

– If there is a requirement for such payment to be “allowed to join,” one should refrain from participating, he says.

– scandal

Owe Waltherzøe, who is also a group shop steward at Safe, is, like his colleagues, highly critical of Equinor payments in Angola.

– This is part of a series of scandals related to the company’s operations abroad, says Waltherzøe.

He adds that he only knows about the case through the media and that he, as the group’s union delegate, has not received any internal information about it.

Waltherzøe emphasizes that he has long been a strong critic of Equinor’s investment abroad, especially under the leadership of Helge Lund, who left in 2014.

At the same time, he claims that parts of the group’s current leadership had central positions even then. Chief Executive Officer Eldar Sætre was Lund’s Chief Financial Officer.

– Therefore, I am surprised that these cases have not been addressed further under the current leadership, says Waltherzøe.

He believes that Equinor should never have accepted the terms of the contract in Angola in 2011.

– For a company in a democratic country, it has nothing to do with blindly paying large sums of money without any control over what they are for, he says.

– Certainly, the company should not enter into such agreements in the future. If we are going to enter into contracts that require payment for licenses, we must follow our own values. They must also apply internationally.

Equinor: – We use the experience of Angola

E24 sent the union stewards’ criticisms of Equinor and asked the following questions:

• What do you think about the fact that the shop stewards think that the answers you have given are not good enough?
• Do you think you should have done something different in relation to the conclusion of the contract in 2011?
• Will Equinor establish other transparency requirements in the use of social security contributions if this becomes relevant in the allocation of new licenses?

Erik Haaland, spokesperson for Equinor’s international operations, responds as follows:

“Equinor’s payments to the research and technology center and social contributions in Angola have been made in accordance with the laws of Norway, Angola, the United States and the United Kingdom. This case was thoroughly investigated in 2016 and we have not made any payments since then.

When we signed the agreements in 2011 we were, as far as I know, the only company open on payments and subsequently we have published information on contributions for social purposes and the research center in other public documents. Transparency is a very basic premise in all anti-corruption work.

Since 2011, expectations have also changed regarding the monitoring of this type of payment. We use Angola’s experiences when negotiating new contracts and in monitoring specific projects, and the agreements we sign today are different. Doing business in countries with high risk of corruption poses difficult dilemmas for companies, and at Equinor we are actively working to constantly improve and strengthen our anti-corruption work. “