Statoil, Norway’s national oil company, warned that it sees no firm evidence of a sustained recovery in industrial investment, private consumption and employment, and promised to continue cutting costs in spite of the upturn in the oil price.

Helge Lund, Statoil’s chief executive, told the Financial Times: “We see a number of positive signs, and we expect that 2010 will be better than 2009. However, we see risks and uncertainties over how stable the recovery will be.”