Commodities
Equinor Expects Equity Production Outside Norway to Grow to 950,000 BOE/D by 2030
Norwegian energy major Equinor (EQNR) is on course to increase equity production outside Norway to 950,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030 and generate $20 billion of free cash flow from 2026 to 2030, Executive Vice President Philippe Mathieu said on Tuesday.In Q2, the company reported equity production outside Norway of 750,000 boe/d, a growth of over 10% in two years, despite exiting legacy investments with high-quality assets in Azerbaijan and Nigeria, the company said in a statement.During the quarter, the US accounted for equity production of 433,000 boe/d, about 100,000 boe/d more than in Q2 2024.Addressing an Offshore Northern Seas media briefing in Stavanger on Tuesday, Mathieu said the US was Equinor's largest production market outside Norway, with the company having grown its onshore natural gas position in the country.Equinor recently disclosed power investments in the US and also supports operator Shell (SHEL) in the Sparta offshore project, which is expected to start production in 2028. Equinor owns a 49% interest in the project, Mathieu said.For future growth, he highlighted the Bay du Nord project in Canada and said the company was also pursuing exploration opportunities in Brazil and Angola, with several drilling prospects expected to be tested over the next few years.In June, the company along with operator Azule Energy approved the Greater Palas, Astrea and Juno project in Angola, which is expected to start production in 2029 and unlock around 250 million barrels of resources.Meanwhile, Brazil is expected to be a key driver of Equinor's international growth toward 2030, with equity production nearing 200,000 boe/d, supported by the ramp-up of the Bacalhau field and the Raia project, which is on track for 2028 start-up. Once operational, Raia could supply about 15% of Brazil's total projected gas demand, the statement said.Last week, Equinor entered a Chevron (CVX)-operated exploration license in Namibia with a drill-ready prospect targeted for testing by year-end. It is also evaluating opportunities in Argentina and the US. "We are gradually stepping up our exploration activity to support a focused strengthening and replenishment of our international portfolio," Mathieu said.The energy supply crisis due to the ongoing Middle East conflict is making it easier for the company to consider the development of a long-stalled liquefied natural gas export plant in Tanzania, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing Mathieu.Tanzania's huge gas deposit, discovered over a decade ago, would require around $42 billion in investment as per the country's estimates. However, years of negotiations between Equinor and Tanzania over investment terms have repeatedly stalled progress, the report said.In a separate statement on Tuesday, Equinor said additional gas is being supplied to the Troll A platform in the North Sea, with the Troll Phase 3 stage 2 subsea project commencing production from Aug. 22. The project is expected to speed up an output of about 55 billion standard cubic metres of gas from the Troll West reservoir, equivalent to almost two years of France's gas demand.The Phase 3 Step 2 project was initially expected to start by year-end at an estimated cost of 12.3 billion Norwegian kroner ($1.32 billion).The Troll partnership consists of operator Equinor with a 30.55% interest, Petoro at 55.93%, Shell (SHEL) unit Norske Shell at 8.19%, TotalEnergies' (TTE) TotalEnergies EP Norge at 3.69%, and ConocoPhillips (COP) unit ConocoPhillips Skandinavia at 1.64%, the statement said.The Troll gas field holds about 40% of the Norwegian continental shelf's gas reserves and supplies around 10% of Europe's gas demand, with annual energy production equivalent to three times Norway's hydropower output, the statement said.
$COP$CVX$EQNR$SHEL$TTE
