How Statoil Beat the European Blues in 2011

As 2011 comes to a close, it's a great time to look back at what happened to the stocks that interest you. By making sure you know the important things that a company accomplished -- as well as the setbacks it experienced -- you can make a better decision about whether it's a smart investment for your portfolio.

Today, let's take a look at Statoil (NYS: STO) . With all the troubles in Europe, stocks of many companies based in European countries found themselves under pressure, even when they had significant operations outside the Continent. But high oil prices helped the Norwegian oil giant survive a tough year for European stocks. Below, I'll take a closer look at the events that moved shares of Statoil this year.

Stats on Statoil

Source: S&P Capital IQ.

How did Statoil advance this year?
Statoil isn't the best known Big Oil company, but it's an important player in the world oil market. The Norwegian company is strategically placed near the North Sea's energy reserves, in which the company recently announced a huge new find.

Acquisitions have increasingly played a big role in gaining exposure to promising new exploration and development areas. Statoil acquired Brigham Exploration earlier this year to get into the lucrative Bakken shale play, while Marathon Oil (NYS: MRO) spent a whopping $3.5 billion to pick up significant assets in the Eagle Ford. Statoil's move follows previous buys of U.S. shale plays, including Marcellus acreage from Chesapeake Energy (NYS: CHK) and Eagle Ford exposure from SM Energy (NYS: SM) .

But Statoil has also found opportunities on its own. Statoil got some good news earlier this month, as it won a contract for exploration rights to ultra-deepwater fields off the coast of Angola. Among the other winners were Cobalt International Energy (NYS: CIE) and Total (NYS: TOT) , but if the fields prove as lucrative as similar formations off the Brazilian coast, then there should be plenty of oil for everyone. Statoil recently got an exploration license in Indonesia as well.

Statoil has positioned itself well to benefit from currently high oil prices. As long as the oil market stays favorable, Statoil should be able to buck any negative trends from Europe.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Dan Caplinger doesn't own shares of the companies mentioned. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Chesapeake Energy, Statoil, and Total. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Fool has a disclosure policy.

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