Equinor, Aker BP, Vaar face rising project costs, Norway budget shows
The Norwegian government announced on Monday that Aker BP, Equinor and Vaar Energi had raised their estimates of costs for major oil and natural gas development projects in the Norwegian continental shelf. The government's fiscal budget documents revealed that the cost of Equinor Johan Castberg is expected to rise from 80.3 billion crowns, which was estimated a year ago. Aker BP’s Yggdrasil will likely cost 134.4 billion crowns compared to 120.2 billion crowns a year ago, and Vaar’s Balder Future is expected at 52.2 billion crowns compared to 44.5 billion crowns.
Lundin Energy Chief Schneiter: Output Trending Upward at Sverdrup
Norway's Johan Sverdrup oilfield, the largest in western Europe, is ramping up production in the fourth quarter after the government increased its production permit, Lundin Energy, a partner in the field, said on Friday.Equinor-operated Sverdrup increased its production capacity to 470,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) in March from an original 440,000 boed, but output was soon after capped by government-imposed limits.Norway in May joined OPEC and other producers in voluntary output curbs to help prop up oil prices as the novel coronavirus pandemic undermined demand.Maintenance work and technical problems at some fields cut output more than expected in th
Norway's May Oil Output Down, But Still Above Forecast
Norway's oil production fell in May from the previous month but still exceeded official forecasts by 0.9%, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said on Friday.The country's crude oil output fell by 2.1% month-on-month from April to 1.74 million barrels per day. The output year-on-year was up by 38.1%, thanks among other things to a ramp-up of Equinor's giant Johan Sverdrup oilfield.Daily natural gas output fell by 12.4% month-on-month, missing the official forecast by 8.4% and was down 15.4% from a year ago.Overall monthly gas output in April totaled 8.2 billion cubic meters.
Equinor Suspends 2020 Production Guidance
Equinor has suspended its 2020 oil and gas output guidance amid government-imposed curtailments and a glut of supply, and could take further action to scale back activity this year, the Norwegian energy firm said on Thursday.With operations from the North Sea to Africa, the Americas and Asia, Equinor had expected 7% output growth this year before Norway, Brazil and others joined OPEC+ in ordering curtailments amid the COVID-19 pandemic."We will continue to prioritise value over volume and have already reduced activity, particularly in the U.S. onshore.
Equinor Q2 Earnings Lag Forecast
European oil major Equinor said on Thursday it expects less capital expenditure this year, partly due to further cost savings at its Johan Sverdrup oilfield, after reporting quarterly earnings slightly below forecasts.Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell to $3.15 billion from the year-earlier result of $4.3 billion, missing the $3.4 billion forecast by 22 analysts in a poll compiled by Equinor.The company now expects capital expenditure of between $10 billion and $11 billion in 2019 against its previous guidance of $11 billion.
Equinor to Sell Shares in Lundin Petroleum
Norwegian oil and gas firm Equinor ASA on Sunday said it will sell a 16% stake in Lundin Petroleum AB for about $1.56 billion, and in return acquire an additional 2.6% stake in Johan Sverdrup oilfield.Equinor agreed to sell about 54.5 million Lundin shares at a price of 266.4 crowns ($28.22), representing a discount of about 9.6% to Lundin's close on Friday.It will retain a 4.9% stake in Lundin.The company will also acquire a 2.6% direct ownership share in the Johan Sverdrup oilfield for $910 million, it added.Equinor's giant Johan Sverdrup oilfield is expected to start production in November this year.At closing, the Norwegian company will hold 42.6% ownership in th
Equinor Q1 Beats Forecast
Norwegian oil and gas firm Equinor reported on Friday a small fall in quarterly operating profit, beating forecasts, and said its giant Johan Sverdrup oilfield in the North Sea remains on track to start production in November.Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), adjusted for one-off items, fell to $4.2 billion in the first quarter from $4.4 billion during the same period of 2018, higher than a forecast of $3.9 billion in a Reuters poll of analysts.The company, which has a smaller refining business than rivals, fared slightly better than BP, Exxon Mobil , and Chevron which saw sharp declines in profits partly due to lower refining margins.Equinor's domestic and in
Lundin Raises Long-term Output Guidance
Lundin Petroleum raised its output guidance on Wednesday and said it would drill a record number of exploration wells in 2019.The company now expects output of over 150,000 barrels of oil equivalents per day (boepd) in 2020 from a previous forecast of more than 130,000 barrels and up from 81,100 boepd in 2018.In 2023, output is expected to exceed 170,000 barrels per day, up from 160,000 barrels expected previously.The increase will primarily come from the startup of Norway's Johan Sverdrup oilfield, the largest North Sea discovery in more than 30 years, but also from its existing fields as well as other soon-to-be developed assets, it said.Lundin plans to drill 15 ex
Norway's December Oil Output Misses Forecast
Norway's oil production fell by 2.1 percent year-on-year in December and lagged the Petroleum Directorate's forecast for the month by 2.5 percent amid technical problems at some offshore fields, the industry regulator said on Monday.December natural gas output fell by 2.5 percent year-on-year, lagging forecasts by 3.6 percent, it added.Norway recently predicted its 2019 oil output would fall to a 30-year low, although it is expected to rebound next year following the start-up later this year of the giant Johan Sverdrup oilfield.(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Gwladys Fouche)
Kvaerner Eyes Growth, Mergers as Profits Decline
Kvaerner, a Norwegian builder of oil platforms, aims to increase its revenue by some 40 percent by 2022 by expanding abroad, the company said on Tuesday after reporting a sharp decline in third-quarter earnings that drove down its shares.Kvaerner's quarterly earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell to 76 million crowns ($9.19 million) from 245 million crowns a year ago."In a period where some recently awarded projects are not yet recognising margin and with less effects from milestones and incentives in other projects, this influences EBITDA and margins, as expected," the company said in a statement.At 0928 GMT, the company's shares
Aker BP CEO Predicts Fast Johan Sverdrup Ramp-up
Aker BP, a partner in Norway's giant Johan Sverdrup oilfield, expects a fast ramp-up of production when the initial development phase ends in late 2019, its chief executive said on Thursday."I think it will be done in a few months, because the production per well is so high," Karl Johnny Hersvik told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy conference.Johan Sverdrup Phase 1 will have capacity to produce 440,000 barrels of oil equivalents per day (boed), while the second phase, starting production in 2022, is expected to further boost output to 660,000 boed.Sweden's Lundin Petroleum, another partner in the Equinor-operated, on Wednesday said it expected the field to star
Equinor to Boost Drilling to Extend Norwegian Shelf Life
Oil producer Equinor aims to boost the recovery rate from its Norwegian fields to well above the global average to extend production from the mature basin beyond 2030.Equinor announced plans on Tuesday to drill up to 3,000 wells offshore from its native Norway in coming decades - almost as many as it has drilled since its startup in 1972 - to mitigate declining output from older fields, and extend the production lifetime of more than 20 installations.The company said it remained on track for to keep profitable oil and gas production in Norway towards 2030…
Equinor Looks to Cut More Costs at Giant North Sea Oilfield
Norway's Equinor sees scope to further reduce development costs at the Johan Sverdrup oilfield in the North Sea, as it looks to maximize the potential of what could be the last giant field to be found off the Nordic country.The field, one of the five largest oil finds offshore Norway, is estimated to contain up to 3.1 billion barrels of oil equivalents, mainly crude oil, enough to meet Britain's oil demand for five years.Sverdrup is on track to begin production in late 2019 and could produce up to a quarter of Norway's overall petroleum output at its peak.Equinor…
Arctic Norway Terminal Plans Revived
Oil firms operating two oilfields and several oil discoveries in the Barents Sea off Norway are looking at a possibility to build an onshore oil terminal, Norway's oil minister said on Tuesday. "I'm optimistic. I think it's important that operators investigate all possibilities and find a profitable solution both for the companies and the society," Terje Soeviknes told a news conference. Statoil, Eni, Lundin and OMV are investigating the possibility of building an onshore facility for ship-to-ship transfers or a terminal with a storage, he added.
Statoil Raises Dividend, CapEx as Oil Sector Rebounds
Stock is best performer of European oil index. Norway's Statoil will raise its dividend, investments and exploration spending in 2018, it said on Wednesday, after higher oil prices helped it beat fourth-quarter earnings forecasts. Like other oil companies, Statoil is also benefiting from efficiencies it pushed through during the sector's downturn, when firms were forced to slash jobs, projects and investment. Its flagship project, the development of the Johan Sverdrup oilfield in the North Sea, now has a break-even price so low it challenges the efficiency of OPEC countries, said one analyst.
Drilling Rig in Norway Gets All its Power from Land to Cut Emissions
An offshore drilling rig hired by Norwegian oil and gas producer Aker BP is getting all its power from electricity produced onshore, the firm said on Thursday, in a move that cuts carbon emissions and could be a world first. The Maersk Invincible rig, which is operating at the Valhall field in the North Sea, is connected with a 500-metre long cable to the field's Valhall platform which is in turn powered by a 294-kilometre long subsea cable linked to Norway's shore. "To our knowledge, this is the first one," said a company spokesman, citing data provided by the rig's owner, Denmark's Maersk, and other sources.
Norway Expects Delayed Start at Johan Sverdrup
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate continues to expect output at the Johan Sverdrup oilfield in the North Sea, Norway's most important industrial project, to begin later than Statoil expects it to, the head of the agency said on Thursday. "We have a small disagreement with the operator on this because we have pushed it a little further in time than what the development plan says," Bente Nyland told Reuters. "This is because it is such a complex development that we believe it will be a little delayed compared to what the operator expects. "We think Sverdrup will come into production around 2020, for phase 1, while phase 2 will start around 2022," she said.
Statoil slashes J.Sverdrup Oilfield Costs
Project is one of Norway's largest industrial projects. Statoil has cut the initial costs of developing one of Norway's biggest industrial projects, the Johan Sverdrup oilfield in the North Sea, by 7 percent, partner Det norske said on Friday. With crude oil prices halving in a year, oil firms have been forced to reduce spending, putting the oil services industry under severe pressure to slash costs. Operator Statoil has cut its estimate for the first phase of the development to 114 billion crowns ($13.42 billion) from 123 billion in nominal terms, Det norske said in a statement.
Aker Solutions 1Q 2015 Revenue Up
Aker Solutions announced their Financial Results for the first quarter of the current calendar year. * EBIT margin ex. Aker Solutions' revenue rose 14 percent to NOK 8.5 billion in the first quarter of 2015 from a year earlier, boosted by progress on major projects from Angola to Brazil and Norway. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell 22 percent to NOK 409 million in the quarter from a year earlier. The EBIT margin in the same period narrowed to 4.8 percent from 7 percent. Earnings were impacted by costs of overcapacity in the maintenance…
Det norske's Sverdrup Oilfield Stake Undervalued by $500 mln
A proposal to divide the giant Johan Sverdrup oilfield in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea undervalues Det norske's stake in the $29 billion project by around $500 million, the firm's top shareholder said on Thursday. Det norske's part of the field, one of three licences that make up Sverdrup, has more valuable oil with higher concentration and a greater recovery potential, and lower production costs, said Kjell Inge Roekke, the chairman of Aker ASA, which owns 49.99 pct of Det norske. "There is a substantial difference between what we consider a fair distribution and the proposal to be evaluated by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate…
