LNG

Norway’s Equinor, the LNG exporter and main supplier of pipeline natural gas to Europe, posted a slight rise in second-quarter net income as new fields came on stream on the Norwegian Continental Shelf amid continued high grading of the company’s oil and gas portfolio.

Dec 20 (LNGJ) - Norwegian pipeline gas company Equinor and German state-owned firm Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE), formerly a unit of Russia's Gazprom before it was nationalized by the German Federal Government after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have signed a wide-ranging gas supply deal. Equinor has agreed to supply 111 terrawatt hours, or 10 billion cubic metres of natural gas per annum, to SEFE from January 2024 until 2034 and with an option for another five years and at terms reflecting market prices.

   “This is a response to Europe’s need for long-term, reliable supply of energy,” said Equinor’s Chief Executive Anders Opedal. “The gas will be delivered to Trading Hub Europe (THE) in Germany, Title Transfer Facility (TTF) in the Netherlands and at the National Balancing Point (NBP) in the UK,” said a joint statement. The agreements were signed in Berlin by CEO Opedal and SEFE’s CEO, Egbert Laege. “After the Troll gas sales agreement in 1986, this is one of the largest gas sales agreements Equinor has entered into as a company,” the Norwegians added.

Equinor, the Norwegian energy company and the main pipeline natural gas supplier to the UK and the European Union, has brought online the world’s largest offshore wind farm as part of a joint venture development.

The 41st edition of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston attended by around 6,000 delegates focused on the second day on issues such as European and US natural gas and also on the main Texas commodity - crude oil.

Norwegian energy major Equinor, the main supplier of pipeline natural gas to Europe and an LNG producer and exporter, reported soaring profits and record cash flow from becoming the primary gas supplier to its European neighbours after the cutting of Russian gas pipelines.

Leading European pipeline natural gas and LNG supplier Equinor of Norway said record high production levels continued in the third quarter as Europe received 11 percent more gas from the Norwegian Continental Shelf and profits rose from trading gas and power at higher prices.

Equinor posted a multiple increase in net profits and revenues as it stepped up to boost European energy security with more pipeline gas, a re-started LNG plant and 18 percent higher gas output from the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Equinor, the Norwegian major and owner of Western Europe’s only baseload liquefaction plant at Hammerfest in Northern Norway, more than doubled first-quarter revenues and income from soaring oil and gas prices to $36.39 billion from $17.59Bln in the same quarter of 2021 as it is set to partially replace Russia as the principal regional supplier.

March 15 (LNGJ) - Norwegian energy company Equinor, whose Hammerfest LNG plant comes back on stream in mid-May 2022, has decided to stop all trading in Russian oil after previously quitting projects with Russia’s Rosneft that will lead to earnings impairments. “This means that Equinor will not enter any new trades or engage in the transporting of oil and oil products from Russia,” said Equinor.

   However, the company pointed out that it had certain contractual commitments arising out of contracts entered into prior to the invasion of Ukraine. These include contracts signed in January this year under which Equinor would receive four oil cargoes in March. “Two of these have been sold on to customers in Asia. The third is a naphtha cargo that will be delivered to an Equinor contracted storage facility. The fourth is a feedstock cargo to be delivered to the Mongstad refinery in Norway,” said the company. Equinor noted that receiving these cargoes is in full compliance with current sanctions.

Global and natural gas stalwart companies BP of the UK and Equinor of Norway will face combined earnings hits of around $27 billion by exiting their Russian business ventures because of the Ukraine invasion, with BP taking the largest profits impairments by breaking up with Rosneft.