– I must admit it is an unpleasant case – E24

– I must admit that it is an unpleasant case that we have not advanced further with the research center. I wish it were different, but we do our best to push forward.

This is what Eldar Sætre, CEO of Equinor, says in an important interview with Aftenbladet / E24 regarding the handover of the CEO position to Anders Opedal later this fall.

When asked how Sætre views what has emerged from criticism related to the business in the US and Angola, the outgoing CEO says:

– For me, it is incredibly important to know that here I am firm as a rock and that the company knows what it is doing. Maybe we wouldn’t do the same today, but the interesting thing is that we made a decision based on what we knew. So we probably think differently about social contributions and that we should know about our partners’ property today.

Harsh criticism

Aftenbladet / E24 has recently written several cases about Equinor’s activities in Angola, a country that for decades has been associated with a high risk of corruption and an elite that has grown roughly rich on oil money, at the expense of the community.

E24 has written that:

Politicians, corruption experts and union officials have criticized Equinor after the E24 cases. The Storting’s constitution and control committee asked the Ministry of Oil and Energy to report again on the ministry’s monitoring of payments to the research center.

He raised the issue with the Angolan president.

In the recent interview, Sætre says that Equinor is the only one of the companies involved that is really pushing for speed in the research center case.

– We also reported on this before others thought to do so, and before the Angolan authorities accepted that we did. Initially it was against Angolan law, but we decided to do it anyway. I myself have raised the issue with President Joao Lourenco in Angola. That is why I am convinced that we have played a positive role, says Sætre.

– But the case is not comfortable. That’s why we follow him closely, he says.

E24 knows that BP, Cobalt (now bankrupt), Total and China Sonangol have also contributed to the research center. None of these companies have answered questions from E24 about payments.

Challenging

Equinor has previously stated that social contribution payments to Sonangol do not violate corruption laws in Norway, Angola, the United States or the United Kingdom. Ecocrime asked Equinor about the case in 2016, but did not open an investigation.

Regarding the partnership with the company SSI 31, Erik Haaland, spokesperson for Equinor’s international operations, states that “there have been no payments between Equinor and SSI 31, and in the negotiations for new contracts we are now working to introduce clauses that allow prevent companies with hidden ownership to form companies ”.

– What is being discussed now clearly highlights some of the challenges of doing business in countries like Angola. We believe that our presence contributes positively, says Haaland.

– Our opening has advanced. Many companies now report their payments in Angola and the authorities accept it. We have been at the forefront in this area and have contributed to this greater openness in the industry.

Aftenbladet / E24 has asked Equinor about an interview with Eldar Sætre, specifically about the Angola cases. Erik Haaland, spokesperson for international operations at Equinor, tells E24 that Sætre has nothing more to add now.