Page 13 - EurOil Week 44 2021

EurOil PERFORMANCE EurOil

Equinor gains in Q3 on

gas price spike

NORWAY PROFITS at Norway’s state oil company Equinor the Troll and Oseberg fields by a combined 2bn
surged in the third quarter on higher gas reve- cubic metres in the current gas year. It has also
A lot of Equinor’s sales nues and derivatives, the company reported on been delivering more gas to the continent that
are spot-based, and October 27. would otherwise be reinjected into reservoirs in
so it benefited greatly Equinor achieved its strongest quarterly order to pump oil.
from the price spike in result in nine years, on the back of a spike in gas “We have turned every valve to see if we can
Europe. prices in Europe. It is the continent’s second big- produce and export more gas,” the CEO said,
gest gas supplier after Russia’s Gazprom. adding that at one field, Gina Korg, the company
While other suppliers use a lot of long-term had managed to increase gas supply with only a
contracts indexed to oil prices, Equinor is sig- marginal impact on oil output.
nificantly exposed to spot gas prices, helping it Bullish prices are unlikely to last, however, he
to capitalise more on the surge in hub rates in warned.
recent months. “This makes for higher revenues for Equinor
Equinor’s adjusted earnings before tax soared but is also a reminder how [commodity] prices
to $9.77bn in the three months ending Septem- swing,” the CEO said. “We have not changed our
ber 30, up from $0.78bn a year earlier. Revenues long-term price projections.”
more than doubled to $23.3bn, while net income European customers have steadily been
amounted to $1.41bn, versus a loss of $2.12bn a pushing for more hub-based gas pricing and
year before. spot-based prices over the years. And while this
“The global economy is in recovery, but we was beneficial for them for most of the last dec-
are still prepared for volatility related to the ade, suppliers are now reaping huge awards from
impact of the pandemic,” CEO Anders Opedal the price spike.
said in a statement. “The current unprece- Earnings at Equinor’s marketing, midstream
dented level and volatility in European gas and processing (MMP) division increased to
prices underlines the uncertainty in the mar- $2.19bn in the third quarter from $262mn a
ket. Equinor has an important role as a reliable year earlier, on the back of increased derivative
energy provider to Europe and we have taken revenues. While most of Equinor’s gas is sold on
steps to increase our gas exports to respond to a spot basis, it also sells a small share based on
the high demand.” longer-dated indices, and MMP has used finan-
Equinor secured approval from Norwegian cial contracts to benefit from strong spot and
authorities to boost gas flow to Europe from front-end pricing.™

Week 44 04•November•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13