The board has overriding responsibility for managing the group and supervising the group’s day-to-day management and its operations.
The work of the board is based on rules of procedure that describe the board’s responsibility, duties and administrative procedures. The rules of procedure also describe the duties of the chief executive officer and his/her duties vis-à-vis the board of directors.
StatoilHydro’s board of directors has two sub-committee’s which act as preparatory bodies.
The board’s audit committee
The role of the audit committee is to assist in the exercise of the board’s management and control responsibilities and to ensure that the group has an independent and effective external and internal auditing system. The duties of the audit committee include maintaining continuous contact with StatoilHydro’s elected auditor concerning the auditing of the company’s accounts. The committee also supervises the implementation of and compliance with the group’s ethical guidelines.
The audit committee assesses and makes a recommendation concerning the choice of external auditor, and it is responsible for ensuring that the external auditor meets the requirements set by the authorities in Norway and in other countries in which StatoilHydro is listed on the stock exchange.
The board’s remuneration committee
The role of the remuneration committee is to assist the board in its work on terms and conditions of employment for the chief executive, and on the philosophy, principles and strategy for the compensation of leading executives in StatoilHydro.
See also the American 
annual report on form 20-F, which contains a more detailed description of the duties of the sub-committees.
