Equinor ASA (EQNR)

Equinor reported third-quarter 2026 net income of $2.54 billion on 28 October, against a loss of $204 million a year earlier 16. Adjusted operating income, the company's own measure that sets aside one-off items, was $12.35 billion 1. Equity production, its share of what its fields pump, was 2,166 thousand barrels of oil equivalent a day, up 2 percent 1.

The company tied the rise to higher oil and European gas prices and to record results at its Mongstad refinery 1. It realised a European gas price of $20.0 per million British thermal units and $92.3 a barrel for liquids 1. Tight markets after the conflict in the Middle East pushed European gas prices up during the quarter, the report says 1.

Most of the profit went to Norway as tax: the effective tax rate was 77.6 percent, because income from the Norwegian shelf carries a 78 percent statutory rate 1. The board kept the quarterly dividend at $0.39 a share and began a fourth buy-back tranche of up to $1,125 million, completing a 2026 programme of up to $3 billion 16.

Two decisions remain open 1215. Equinor targets a final investment decision on Bay du Nord, an oil project off Canada, for early 2027 12. Rosebank, the oil field of Adura, Equinor's joint venture with Shell, still awaits UK consent 15.

Equinor began as Statoil, the Norwegian State Oil company, founded in September 1972 as the government's commercial instrument for building an oil industry 3. The Statfjord field, found in 1974, began producing in 1979, and in 1981 Statoil became the first Norwegian operator in the North Sea with Gullfaks 3.

In 2001 it listed in Oslo and New York, with the Norwegian state keeping a 67 percent stake 3. It merged with Norsk Hydro's oil and gas division in 2007, which widened its reach on the Norwegian shelf and abroad 32. The name Equinor came in 2018, after a 2017 strategy to become a broader energy company 3.

Revenue followed oil and gas prices: $45.9 billion in 2016, $79.6 billion in 2018 and $64.4 billion in 2019 8. The pandemic hit 2020, and revenue fell to $45.8 billion with a net loss of $5.5 billion, mainly on lower oil and gas prices 8. The company cut its dividend by 67 percent that April to protect its finances 8.

Then came the boom: revenue reached $90.9 billion in 2021 and $150.8 billion in 2022, with 2022 net income of $28.7 billion 9. After Russia cut its gas supply to Europe, Equinor's average invoiced European gas price more than doubled, to $33.44 per million British thermal units in 2022 10. Following the invasion of Ukraine, Equinor stopped new investments in Russia and began leaving its ventures there 9.

As gas prices came down from those extremes, revenue eased to $107.2 billion in 2023 and $103.8 billion in 2024 211. The 2023 report put the drop down to lower gas and oil prices in Europe and North America and smaller gas volumes 11. Net income of $11.9 billion in 2023 was still, in the company's words, "a historically high result" 11.

In 2025 revenue rose slightly to $106.5 billion, but net income fell to $5.06 billion from $8.83 billion in 2024 23. Lower liquids prices, net impairments of $2,481 million tied largely to US offshore wind and price assumptions, and a 79.8 percent effective tax rate weighed on profit 3. Production still set a record of 2,137 thousand barrels of oil equivalent a day, helped by Johan Castberg, Halten East and Bacalhau in Brazil 3.

The company also reshaped its map 32. In 2025 it moved its UK fields, among them Rosebank, Mariner and Buzzard, into Adura, a joint venture it owns half of with Shell, and sold a 40 percent interest in Peregrino in Brazil 3. It bought 10 percent of the Danish wind developer Ørsted for $2.5 billion in 2024 and kept that share in Ørsted's 2025 rights issue 2.

Oil and gas in Norway

Equinor's main business finds and pumps oil and gas on the Norwegian continental shelf, the seabed off Norway, which supplies about two-thirds of its equity production 3. Its largest field is Johan Sverdrup, where it holds 42.63 percent and which averaged 310 thousand barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2025 2. Troll, Oseberg, Gullfaks and Aasta Hansteen follow 2.

In the third quarter of 2026 this segment earned $10,275 million of the group's $11,955 million net operating income, the profit from operations before financial items and tax 1. New fields such as Halten East and Verdande, plus new wells, offset natural decline and unplanned losses at Johan Castberg and Troll 1.

Oil and gas abroad

Outside Norway the company produces in Brazil, Angola, Algeria, the UK through Adura, and the US 31. International equity production was 323 thousand barrels of oil equivalent a day in the third quarter of 2026, up 21 percent, mainly from Adura and Bacalhau, a Brazilian field it holds 40 percent of 12. It sold its Argentine onshore assets to Vista Energy in May 2026 and has agreed to sell its remaining 20 percent of Peregrino 1.

In the US it pumps gas onshore in Appalachia and oil offshore in the Gulf, where it holds 49 percent of the Sparta development 13. US equity production was 422 thousand barrels of oil equivalent a day in the third quarter, down 4 percent on planned downtime and natural decline offshore 1.

Marketing, midstream and processing

This segment sells Equinor's oil and gas and the Norwegian state's share of the shelf's output, and runs refineries, processing plants and trading desks 3. The Mongstad refinery in Norway, wholly owned, handles 226,000 barrels a day, and Equinor holds 37 percent of the Hammerfest LNG plant, which turns gas into liquid for shipping 3. Danske Commodities, its trading house, deals in power, gas and certificates across 40 markets 3.

Its adjusted operating income was $893 million in the third quarter of 2026, up from $307 million, on high refining margins and LNG trading 1. Equinor sold 17.1 billion cubic metres of natural gas in the quarter 1.

Power and carbon storage

Since the start of 2026, a Power segment holds the wind and solar farms, batteries, gas-fired plants and power trading 1. Renewable generation, Equinor's share, was 1.15 terawatt hours in the third quarter, up 26 percent on Dogger Bank in the UK and a new onshore asset in Brazil 1. The segment still ran an adjusted operating loss of $5 million, as project costs outweighed trading gains 1.

Three offshore wind farms are under construction: Dogger Bank in the UK, Empire Wind 1 off New York and Bałtyk 2 and 3 in Poland, almost 6 gigawatts together 3. Equinor has stored carbon dioxide under the Sleipner field since the 1990s and is the technical operator of Northern Lights, which began storing CO2 for customers in 2025 3.

Plants and people

Equinor had 24,620 employees at the end of 2025, and 21,161 of its permanent staff work in Norway 2. Anders Opedal has been chief executive since 2 November 2020, Torgrim Reitan finance chief since 6 October 2022, and Jon Erik Reinhardsen chair since 1 September 2017 2.

Rivals and partners

Its rivals on the Norwegian shelf are also partners: in the third quarter Equinor, Aker BP and Vår Energi set up a joint exploration partnership 1. Shell is its partner in Adura and, since October, in Bay du Nord 112. The company describes itself as one of the world's leading offshore producers of oil and gas 3.

Current problems

On 22 December 2025 a US regulator suspended work on Empire Wind, citing national security 1. A court dismissed Equinor's challenge on 30 September 2026 as moot because the order had expired, which removed the risk that the project's $2.7 billion loan would fall due early 1.

Serious incidents rose to 0.26 per million hours worked in the twelve months to September 2026, from 0.21 at the end of 2025 1. A supplier's worker died in a lifting accident at Mongstad in September 2025 3. In the third quarter Equinor also booked $628 million of impairments on an offshore field that crosses the Norway and UK border 1.

The umbrella, in words

The Norwegian state owns 67 percent directly and 3 percent through the National Insurance Fund, 70 percent in all 3. Equinor has one class of shares, one vote each, but with over two-thirds of the shares the state alone can amend the articles of association 3.

Exhibit 8 of the annual report lists its significant subsidiaries, among them Equinor Energy AS, Danske Commodities AS and Empire Offshore Wind LLC, all wholly owned, and Adura Energy Ltd, owned 50 percent 4. Equinor owns 10 percent of Ørsted and 5.61 percent of Vista Energy, shares it received in the Argentina sale 2161.

It agreed on 6 August 2026 to buy 87.71 percent of the Class A shares of Lackawanna Energy Center, a gas-fired power plant in Pennsylvania, for $940 million 1. Beyond its fields it owns 82 percent of the Tjeldbergodden methanol plant and 24.8 percent of the Etzel gas storage in Germany 3.

For 2026 Equinor now guides to oil and gas production growth of around 4 percent, up from 3, and organic capital spending of around $13 billion 1. It estimates maintenance will cut equity production by around 35 thousand barrels of oil equivalent a day over the year 1.

At its Capital Markets Day on 16 June 2026 the company set goals for 2030: production of 2.3 million barrels of oil equivalent a day and more than 20 terawatt hours of power 51. It plans annual capital spending of $11 to 13 billion in 2028 to 2030, around 60 percent on the Norwegian shelf 5. It expects Norwegian output of 1.35 million barrels a day in 2030 and international output of about 950,000 5.

From 2027 the company plans share buy-backs of $2 to 4 billion a year, set against oil at $60 to 80 a barrel and European gas at $7 to 11 per million British thermal units 5. It aims to raise the quarterly dividend per share by more than 5 percent a year 5.

The fourth buy-back tranche runs from 29 October 2026 and ends no later than 1 February 2027 6. The third-quarter dividend of $0.39 a share is to be paid on 26 February 2027 7.

Bay du Nord, about 500 kilometres off Newfoundland, is in front-end engineering, and Equinor plans an investment decision in early 2027 and first oil in 2031 1213. Its first phase would cost about 14 billion Canadian dollars and recover more than 400 million barrels, Equinor says 12.

The Lackawanna purchase and the Peregrino sale are each expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027, subject to approvals 1. In the UK, Adura said a decision on Rosebank follows Jackdaw in the regulatory process, after Jackdaw won consent on 21 October 2026 1514.

Past

Equinor's revenue grew from $46 billion in fiscal 2016 to $106 billion in fiscal 2025, rising 9.8% a year over ten filed years, and rose in 5 of 9 years; the deepest fall was 42% from fiscal 2018 to fiscal 2020. Net income was positive in 8 of 10 of those years. Over the three fiscal years to 2025, the diluted share count shrank about 6.5% a year, and dividends and buybacks returned about 61% of operating cash flow. Its officers and directors filed 0 sales and 0 purchases of their own stock on the open market in the year to 2026-09-30. Equinor's filings since 2017 show no warning events: no bankruptcy or receivership notice, no debt default notice, no exchange listing notice, no restatement warning, no auditor change, no material cyber incident and no late-report notice. 1

Present

In its latest annual figures on file, for the fiscal year ended 2025-12-31, Equinor reported revenue of $106 billion and a profit of $5.1 billion. In that year, it earned about 12 cents of profit for every dollar of shareholders' money, and its products earned about 39 cents per dollar of everything the company owns. It owed about 69 cents per dollar of assets, and its share count shrank 8.1% over the year. Shareholders' equity, or book value, was $40.50 billion as of 2025-12-31. Book value per share was $15.62 on 2.59 billion diluted average shares for fiscal 2025. 213

In fiscal 2025, Equinor's revenue of $106 billion ranks in the top 37% by size among 17 companies in its industry family; a net margin of 4.8% ranks in the top 26%; revenue growth of -11% a year over the last three filed years ranks in the bottom 32%. 1

Equinor files no Form 8-K, as a foreign issuer reports on Form 6-K, so officer and director changes cannot be read there; no officer or director has filed a Form 3, 4 or 5 for it in the last fifteen months, so the years in charge cannot be read, and the desk assumes the typical reading of its industry family. 1

Future

An annual report, foreign filer (Form 20-F) for the fiscal year ending 2026-12-31 is due by 2027-04-30. Equinor's room to grow, from the newest filed statements for fiscal 2025: cash of $5.0 billion against no long-term debt tagged leaves 3.8% of its assets as net cash, in the top 9% of its family; cash from operations less capital spending is 5.6% of revenue (top 34%); a gross margin of 48.2% (top 12%); research spending of 0.3% of revenue (top 7%). 41

Revenue grew -11% a year over the last three filed years against 9.8% over all ten, slowing; the newest year grew 2.6%; research spending grew 4.6% a year; capital spending grew 16.9% a year. In fiscal 2025, revenue of $106 billion came in 23.7% above the $86 billion its prior three years' pace pointed to; net income of $5.1 billion against a prior three-year average of $16 billion; a net margin of 4.8% against 12.9% before. 1

How the company operates

Equinor is classed as a commodity producer under the petroleum refining industry (SIC 2911). Equinor tags no split of its revenue by line in the annual report on file, so growth by line cannot be read. Equinor and Shell's Adura can start North Sea gas production within weeks following UK approval of the Jackdaw gas field; the larger Rosebank oil field still waits for its own decision. 215

New moves

On 2026-10-21, the UK approved the Jackdaw gas field after a court quashed its first consent, allowing Shell and Equinor's Adura to start North Sea gas production within weeks; the larger Rosebank oil field still waits for its own decision. On 2026-10-20, Equinor filed a Form 6-K interim report. 54