Statoil may disappear by Wednesday after vote on renaming

May 14 (UPI) -- The ticker symbol for Norwegian energy major Statoil, STL, leaves the market this week when the company officially changes its name to Equinor, it said Monday.

A vote is expected Tuesday in favor of a name change from Statoil to Equinor. The company said Monday it expects the name change to take effect Wednesday, and the ticker symbol STL will leave the Oslo exchange at the end of the trading day May 15.

"The change of name and subsequent implementation and change of ticker on Oslo Børs is subject to the annual general meeting's approval of the name change and formal registration in the Norwegian register of business enterprises," the company stated. "Based on statements made in support of the name change by the company's majority owner, the company expects the AGM to approve the proposal to change the company's name to Equinor ASA."

If approved, the EQNR will open trading on Wednesday.

Statoil is one of the leading producers of oil and gas in the world, drawing on reserves from the North Sea to the U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The company has established a presence, meanwhile, outside of the conventional energy sector. In December, it secured a 79,000-acre plot off the coast of New York for its Empire Wind project, a wind farm with a design capacity of 1 gigawatt.

The board of directors at Statoil in March proposed a name change to Equinor -- drawing in part on words like "equal" and "nor" to signify its Norwegian roots. It would also take the word "oil" out of the moniker.

"The world is changing, and so is Statoil," board Chairman Jon Erik Reinhardsen said at the time.

The company, co-owned by the government, reported net operating income of $5 billion, up from the $4.3 billion during the first quarter, but below analyst's expectations. Earnings after tax were $1.5 billion, up about 35 percent from the same period last year.

Its equity production increased 1.5 percent from last year, led primarily by higher production in the United States, though Norway still accounts for the vast majority of Statoil's revenue stream.