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Equinor (EQNR) Discontinues Norway's Trollvind Offshore Project

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Equinor ASA (EQNR - Free Report) announced that it would delay its proposed Trollvind floating offshore wind farm project in Norway.

The decision was made on the basis of several challenges that the project was facing, including technology availability, rising expenses and timing challenges.

Trollvind, a proposed 1-gigawatt-floating offshore wind farm 65 kilometers west of Bergen, was expected for an investment decision this year. However, technological issues, rising expenses and time constraints led to the decision to delay the project.

Trollvind was a bold industrial plan to solve critical issues regarding the electrification of oil and gas installations. This will bring much-needed power to the Bergen area, while accelerating floating offshore wind power in Norway.

Trollvind had been considered a project outside of Norway’s plans for offshore wind tenders to be held in 2023. In June 2022, Equinor planned to develop the floating offshore wind farm to power its Troll and Oseberg oil and gas fields.

The project was initially expected to start in 2027. However, time has always been a challenge. Despite strenuous efforts, it has not been possible to mature Trollvind to the level needed to proceed at this time.

Equinor fails to see a way ahead to deliver on its original concept of having an operational wind farm well before 2030. The company says that the project is no longer commercially sustainable. Equinor mentioned that the knowledge acquired from working on the project would be applied to others as it seeks to develop floating offshore wind power at Utsira Nord and outside Norway.

Price Performance

Shares of EQNR have underperformed the industry in the past three months. The stock has lost 10.2% compared with the industry’s 5.4% decline.

 

Zacks Investment Research
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Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Equinor currently carries a Zack Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors interested in the energy sector may look at the following companies that presently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

NuStar Energy, L.P. (NS - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings per unit of 24 cents, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 16 cents. The impressive performance can be attributed to strong contributions from the Pipeline and Storage segments.

NuStar Energy expects a net income of $257-$295 million for 2023. It anticipates adjusted EBITDA of $700-$760 million for the same time frame.

Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings per limited partner unit of 64 cents, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 62 cents. This was primarily due to higher contributions from the Natural Gas Pipelines & Services business.

In the first quarter, Enterprise Products generated an adjusted free cash flow of $1,347 million against a negative free cash flow of $1,618 million in the year-ago quarter. EPD recorded a distributable cash flow of $863 million in the same time frame. 

Dril-Quip, Inc. (DRQ - Free Report)  reported a first-quarter 2023 adjusted loss of 1 cent per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 2 cents. This was due to improved performances of key offshore markets and some reemerging areas.

For 2023, Dril-Quip expects product booking growth of 10-20%. The company reported net bookings of $53.5 million for the first quarter. Backlog rose 6% year over year due to an increase in product bookings following improved market conditions.

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