Shares in Equinor, the company formally known as Statoil, started trading Wednesday for the first time on the Oslo stock exchange, it announced.

The company is trading under the ticker symbol EQNR on the Oslo exchange. Implementation of the change takes place on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

The board of directors approved of the name change from Statoil to Equinor ASA during Tuesday's annual general meeting.

The board of directors in March proposed the name change -- drawing in part on the words "equal" and "nor" to signify its Norwegian roots. It also took the word "oil" out of the moniker.

When the name change was proposed, board Chairman Jon Erik Reinhardsen said the sector was changing, meaning the company needed to as well. Apart from legacy fossil fuel reserves, the company has a role in some of the largest wind energy projects in the world.

"The biggest transition our modern-day energy systems have ever seen is underway, and we aim to be at the forefront of this development," a company spokesperson told UPI on Wednesday. "In becoming Equinor, we support the always safe, high value and low carbon strategy we outlined last year."

During the company's annual meeting, a shareholder called on the board to outline a strategy to transform from one drawing on fossil fuels to one focused on renewable energy in order to ensure long-term value for one of the world's larger energy companies.

"This proposal was not adopted," the company stated Tuesday.

Equinor in early April signed letters of intent with services companies Aibel, Aker Solutions and Kværner for construction and field center modifications for the Johan Sverdrup project. The total value of the agreements was estimated at more than $1.4 billion. That same week, it awarded more than $1.5 billion in contracts to energy services companies for work ranging from maintenance to drilling on 18 of the company's fixed platforms on the Norwegian continental shelf.

Development of the phase 1 part of Johan Sverdrup is already underway and on pace for operations by late 2019. It will be one of the biggest projects ever on the Norwegian continental shelf. Phase 2 will take production capacity from around 440,000 barrels of oil per day to 660,000 barrels per day by 2022.

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