Equinor Q3 profit drops 13%, lagging forecast

Equinor reported a sharper-than-expected 13% decline in third-quarter profit on Thursday, hit by weaker oil prices and lower production, and cut its full-year outlook for capital expenditure and renewable energy production growth.

Equinor's poll of 25 analysts found that the adjusted earnings for the period July-September fell from $7.93 to $6.89. This is below the $7.08 billion estimated by Equinor.

In a press release, CEO Anders Opedal stated that "with solid operational performance and result we are on track to deliver a strong cashflow from our operations in line with the statement we made at the capital market update in February."

The organic capital expenditure for 2024 has been revised down to between $12 billion and 13 billion dollars, from the previous forecast of 13.5 billion.

The company stated that the oil and gas production would remain unchanged from last year in 2024.

Equinor expects to see its renewable energy production grow by 50% annually in 2024. This is down from the previous estimate of 70% due to slower than expected progress at the Dogger Bank A offshore wind project, the company said in a press release.

Equinor's third-quarter output was 1,98 million barrels equivalent per day (boed), which is in line with the expectations of the analysts poll. This is down from 2,001 million boed in the previous year.

Equinor reported that its Norwegian production had increased by 2% mainly due to the high production of gas from the North Sea Troll Field. Gas prices have also risen because of geopolitical risk and disruptions in supply.

The average European benchmark front-month gas price at the Dutch TTF hub was 35.60 Euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh) during the third quarter. This is up from 33.81 Euros/MWh in the same period of 2023. Reporting by Nerijus Adomiaitis and Nora Buli; editing by Terje Sollvik and Rashmia Aich

(source: Reuters)