Equinor Brings Online Trestakk Oilfield In Norwegian Sea

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) recently announced the commencement of production from the Trestakk subsea field on Haltenbanken in the Norwegian Sea. The Trestakk field, which has an estimated recoverable oil resource of 76 million barrels, is tied back to the Asgard A floating production vessel. Notably, the project came online within schedule and below budget.

Initial production from the field is estimated to be approximately 22,000 barrels of oil per day (BPD), while projected peak output is about 44,000 BPD. Equinor anticipates production from the field to last for 12 years. The project was approved in 2017 when investment in the field was expected to be NOK 5.5 billion. However, the final cost of the project is estimated at NOK 5 billion, which reflects the company’s efficiency.

The field is located around 20 kilometres south of the Åsgard field, which is why it was easy to tie back the field to the Asgard A floating production vessel. This new Trestakk output extends the production vessel’s life to 2031 from 2019. The Trestakk subsea field has a water depth of 300 meters, while the reservoir lies at a depth of 3,900 meters. Per the company, a total of five wells are expected to be used at the site, of which three will be used for production and two will ensure gas injection.

Equinor is the operator of the field with a 59.1% stake. It has a unit of Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) as a partner in the field with a 33% interest, while the rest 7.9% is held by Vår Energi AS.

Price Performance

Equinor has lost 8.9% in the year-to-date period against the 7.6% growth of the industry it belongs to.

Zacks Rank & Stock to Consider

Currently, the company has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked players in the energy space are Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) and Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK) , each having a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Cheniere Energy’s earnings growth is projected at 8.4% through 2019.

Comstock’s sales growth is projected at 117.3% through 2019.

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