Statoil CEO Eldar Saetre speaks during an interview with Reuters in Mexico City, Mexico April 12, 2018. REUTERS/Ginnette Riquelme/File Photo OSLO (Reuters) - Solving complex energy and climate change issues in court was not a “wise approach”, the chief executive of Norway’s oil and gas firm Equinor said on Thursday, commenting on a U.S. lawsuit filed against ExxonMobil. New York’s attorney general sued Exxon Mobil on Wednesday, alleging that the world’s largest oil company misled investors for years about the risks of climate change regulations on its business. Equinor is a partner of Exxon in projects around the world but it is not involved in the lawsuit. “Generally, court is not a way to resolve complex energy issues and climate change, so I think that’s not a wise approach,” Equinor’s Chief Executive Eldar Saetre told Reuters when asked to comment on the Exxon lawsuit. “But we make a note of that and will follow these developments,” he said, speaking after the company’s results presentation. In January, an Oslo court dismissed a lawsuit by environmentalists against Norway’s plans for more oil exploration in the Arctic. Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Susan Fenton
Eldar Saetre, CEO of Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor, said that it was not a “wise approach” to seek to resolve complex issues involving energy and climate change through the legal system. Saetre’s remarks were made in response to a lawsuit filed by New York against Exxon on 24 October which alleged that the oil firm misled investors about the risks of climate change for its business. Equinor is a partner with Exxon Mobil in various projects, but is not involved in the lawsuit.