Equinor Reports Third-Quarter Earnings Decline

By Nerijus Adomaitis and Nora Buli

OSLO (Reuters) – Equinor reported a sharper-than-expected 13% decline in third-quarter profit on Thursday, affected by weaker oil prices and lower production. The company also revised its full-year outlook for capital expenditure and renewable energy production growth.

The Norwegian oil and gas producer's adjusted earnings before tax for the July-September period fell to $6.89 billion, down from $7.93 billion a year earlier. This figure lagged the $7.08 billion anticipated by a poll of 25 analysts compiled by Equinor.

CEO Anders Opedal stated, "With solid operational performance and results, we are well on track to deliver strong cashflow from operations in line with what we said at the capital markets update in February."

Equinor's organic capital expenditure for 2024 is now projected to range between $12 billion and $13 billion, down from a previous forecast of $13 billion. The company expects its oil and gas output to remain unchanged in 2024 compared to the previous year.

However, Equinor revised its expectations for annual renewable energy output growth to 50% in 2024, a reduction from the earlier estimate of 70%. This change is due to slower-than-anticipated progress at the Dogger Bank A wind project off the British coast.

In the third quarter, Equinor's production averaged 1.98 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed), consistent with analyst predictions but down from 2.01 million boed a year earlier. Notably, Norwegian production increased by 2%, primarily driven by high gas production from the North Sea Troll field. The rise in gas prices is attributed to ongoing geopolitical risks and supply disruptions.

The average European benchmark front month gas price at the Dutch TTF hub soared to 35.60 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) in the third quarter, up from 33.81 euros/MWh during the same period in 2023.