By Nora Buli and Nerijus Adomaitis
LONDON (Reuters) -Equinor on Wednesday raised its 2030 oil and gas output forecast and scaled back plans for renewable energy capacity expansion, while reporting a smaller-than-expected decline in profit for the final quarter of 2024.
The Norwegian oil and gas producer said its adjusted earnings before tax for the October-December period fell to $7.90 billion from $8.56 billion a year earlier.
That, however, beat the $7.71 billion expected in a poll of 24 analysts compiled by Equinor.
“In 2030 expected (oil and gas) production is around 2.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from a previous expectation of around 2 million,” Equinor said in a statement.
The company reduced its 2030 target for renewable energy capacity to a level of between 10-12 gigawatt from 12-16 gigawatt previously expected.
Equinor said it was “lowering (the) investment outlook for renewables and low-carbon solutions to adapt to market conditions and further strengthen value creation for shareholders”.
Equinor’s Oslo-listed stocks have risen 4.7% year-to-date, lagging a 6% gain in European petroleum stocks.
Rival Shell, the first major energy company to report results last week, said its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings, its definition of net profit, nearly halved to $3.66 billion, missing analysts’ expectations.
In December, Equinor and Shell agreed to merge their British North Sea assets into a 50-50 joint venture that, if approved by regulators, will become the British North Sea’s biggest independent producer.
Equinor in 2022 overtook Russia’s Gazprom as Europe’s biggest supplier of natural gas when Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine upended decades-long energy ties. Norway now meets around one third of the continent’s demand.
In 2025, oil and gas output is expected to rise by 4% from 2024, Equinor said, adding that its giant Johan Sverdrup oilfield, Europe’s largest, would keep producing at levels close to 2023 and 2024.
Equinor had previously said the Sverdrup field, which can produce up to 755,000 barrels of oil per day, was to come off plateau production in early 2025.
Equinor said its annual organic capital spending target for 2025 was set at $13 billion, below the previously indicated 2025-2027 spending of between $14 billion and $15 billion per year on average.
The company expects total capital distribution, in the form of dividend and share buybacks, at $9 billion, in line with its previous guidance of $8 billion-$10 billion.
The ordinary cash dividend for the fourth quarter was raised to $0.37 per share from $0.35 in the third.
(Reporting by Nora Buli in London and Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo; Editing by Terje Solsvik, Gwladys Fouche and Subhranshu Sahu)
