Statoil Says Oil Field Break Even Level Should Drop Below $40

OSLO, March 17 (Reuters) - Norwegian oil major Statoil will push the average cost of new fields in its portfolio to a level below $40 per barrel, the company's chief financial officer told Reuters on Thursday.

In February, Statoil said extensive cost cuts had brought the break even cost of projects set to start production by 2022 down to $41 per barrel from $70 seen in 2013.

"All projects should move in the same direction with an average target of $41 for non-sanctioned projects. Below $40 should be a clear target," CFO Hans Jacob Hegge told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Oslo.

"If you look at the pace of our cost reductions I think one could be very clear that we have not reached the final station yet. There is more to go," he added.

To cope with falling crude prices, Statoil has initiated a number of cost saving measures to be prepared for an extended period of weak markets.

In addition to cutting its capital spending plan to $13 billion this year from $14.7 billion in 2015, it has also set a cost cutting target of $2.5 billion on an annual basis.

"It's a target to stretch towards and which we are not entirely sure how to reach. We have set the bar high and people are working hard," Hegge said when explaining the firm's progress.

(Reporting by Henrik Stolen, editing by Terje Solsvik)