Equinor (EQNR) Plans To Electrify Three Platforms From Land

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) along with its partners is contemplating the idea of supplying power from land to three platforms. These include Troll C and the Sleipner field center that comprises the Gudrun tie-in platform in the North Sea.

Currently, these three platforms are powered by gas turbines. The company is planning to lower CO2 emissions by more than 600,000 tons annually from Troll C and the Sleipner area.

Platform electrification is expected to cut CO2 emission by 365,000 tons annually on Troll C. Electrification of the Sleipner field center and Gudrun has the potential for lowering emissions by 250,000 tons annually. NOx emissions might also be lowered, owing to electrification of these platforms by about 2500 tons annually.

Electrification of major offshore oil and gas installations from land is a highly complicated task. Apart from numerous hindrances, technical and financial, many of its installations are in areas with no option for tying in to land-based power supply.

However, the electrification plan follows Equinor’s appraisal on its own-operated Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) fields. The study identified Troll C and the Sleipner field center, including the Gudrun platform, as the most appropriate electrification candidates for further consideration. These platforms can utilize existing power supply infrastructure and can save large resources, which will lead to significant CO2 reductions.

Going forward, Equinor intends to power Johan Sverdrup field along with several fields on the Utsira High, including the Gina Krog field from land. This is in line with the company’sstrategy to work on fields with minimal emissions.

Profitability is important in achieving success in such projects. Moreover, support from the Business Sectors NOx fund will play a vital role.The partnership is required to carry out analysis before it can decide on the electrification of Troll C and Sleipner field center.

The electrification plans involve close cooperation between Equinor, partners and authorities to ascertain good solutions from a technical and financial viewpoint.

To reap long-term benefits on the NCS, the company must focus on reducingCO2 from its operations. In 2017, Equinor attained its goal of lowering annual CO2 emissions from the NCS by 1.2 million tons, almost three years ahead of schedule. Consequently, the company raised its goal and targets to lower CO2 emissions from its offshore operations by another 2 million tons per year by 2030.

Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

Equinor currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

A few other top-ranked players in the same sector are Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:OXY) , China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (NYSE:SNP) and CVR Refining, LP (NYSE:CVRR) . These stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Occidental Petroleum is an international oil and gas exploration and production company. It pulled off an average positive earnings surprise of 30.2% in the last four quarters.

Sinopec is one of the largest petroleum and petrochemical companies in Asia. The company delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 492.8% in the last four quarters.

Sugar Land, TX-based CVR Refining is an independent downstream energy partnership with refining and associated logistics properties in the Midcontinent United States. The company delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 7.05% in the last four quarters.

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