Statoil to Close Beijing R&D Office

Norway's Statoil (STO) has decided to close down its Beijing-based research and development department as part of ongoing cost cuts, it told Reuters on Wednesday.

"As part of our efforts to reduce costs, we have decided to close the Beijing-based R&D department. The department consists of 12 employees, including one expat," a company spokesman said in an emailed statement.

"We will continue to maintain the China office, as China is important for Statoil," he added.

The Norwegian major has an office in Beijing and cooperation agreements with Chinese oil companies. The research centre was set up in 2011 to use local resources for upstream technology research.

But its presence in the world's second-largest economy has been limited, partly due to the row over the attribution of the Nobel Peace Prize to dissident Liu Xiaobo, which has frozen diplomatic relations between Beijing and Oslo.

Another reason has been low crude prices, which has led to cutback in the developments of oil and gas field worldwide.

Outside China, however, Statoil and state-owned Chinese oil companies CNOOC and Sinochem are cooperating together in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil, respectively.

Reporting by Gwladys Fouche