Statoil Or Equinor? Oil And Gas Is Still The Investment Theme -- Michael Fitzsimmons -- March 19, 2018

General: Johan Sverdrup—the North Sea giant. From Equinor:

Johan Sverdrup is one of the five largest oil fields on the Norwegian continental shelf.

With expected resources estimated at 2.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent, it is also one of the most important industrial projects in Norway in the next 50 years.

The development and operation of this enormous field will generate revenue and provide jobs for coming generations. According to the consultancy Agenda Kaupang, the Johan Sverdrup development may generate employment in Norway of more than 150,000 man-years during the construction phase of 2015-2025.

In the first phase of the development, 70% of the contracts were awarded to suppliers in Norway. In phase two, the percentage of contracts going to suppliers in Norway may well exceed 85%. During the period 2016-2018, the main construction phase of the first phase of the project, more than 12,000 people around the world contributed to Johan Sverdrup each and every day.

During operations, Johan Sverdrup may contribute to employment of more than 3,400 people on average each year.

The field is also expected to generate income to the Norwegian state and society exceeding NOK 900 billion over the lifetime of the field.

The field will be operated by electrical power generated onshore, reducing offshore emissions of climate gases by 80%—90% compared to a standard development utilising gas turbines on the NCS. 

Updates

July 2, 2021: Brent. 

June 27, 2020: Norway's giant field pumps "flat out."

January 31, 2020:  output guidance raised. Peak oil? What peak oil? Guidance raised from 160,000 b/d to over 200,000 boe/d.

January 18, 2020: huge new field sends Norway's oil production to 9-year high. 

The start-up of the massive Johan Sverdrup oilfield sent Norway’s oil production rising to a nine-year high in December 2019, beating the authorities’ forecast by 12.7 percent.

In December 2019, the third month of operation of Equinor’s Johan Sverdrup oilfield in the North Sea, Norway’s oil production averaged 1.759 million barrels per day (bpd), the highest oil production offshore Norway since January 2011.

Norway’s oil production in December rose by 4.3 percent from November and jumped by 17 percent compared to December 2018.

December 6, 2019: Reuters -- Norway ramps up western Europe's largest oilfield as oil's future questioned. Can you say, "Johan Sverdrup"? Obviously I can't. I've been calling it the "John Sverdrup" oil field all this time; even my link at the sidebar at the right is incorrect (it's been fixed).

Sverdrup gets all electricity via an 160-km undersea power cable connecting it Norway's hydropower dams. In that way, the field's carbon emissions are reduced to 0.67 kg per barrel compared with the industry's average of 18 kg.

Nonetheless, Norway, which meets some 2% of global oil demand and is Europe's second-largest gas supplier after Russia, is trying to boost its renewable production.

Equinor aims to use about 15-20% of its capital spending on renewable energy projects by 2030, focusing on offshore wind.

Its current projects include 3,600-megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm Dogger Bank in Britain and the 800-MW Empire Wind farm off New York.

October 24, 2019: the world's trendiest blend -- Johan Sverdrup. Compared to Brazil's Lulu or Angola's Saturno, Johan Sverdrup is "already a hit among Asian customers even before the first shipment.... Sverdrup's low sulfur content and medium-density perfectly fit the in-demand crude specifics in Asia right now, according to traders. The new grade is also cheaper than its immediate competitors with which it has been compared, Brazil's Lula and Angola's Saturno. If Asian refiners continue to like Sverdrup, Norway could take some market share from Brazil and Angola on the Asian market, according to Bloomberg.

October 24, 2019: 200,000 bopd in less than three weeks after start-up. Twitter. 

August 30, 2019: Svedrup to start production soon. 

 July 21, 2019: top ten countries, fossil fuel -- Norway on that list.

Original Post

Link over at SeekingAlpha. Summary --

• “Equi” implies equal, equality and equilibrium while “Nor” signals a company proud of its home country origin
• the name change makes sense especially for a European (Scandinavian) energy company looking to become "greener"
• the company says it expects to invest 15%–20% of total capex in new energy solutions by 2030
• however, the investment theme for Equinor continues to be its oil and gas operations

By now you all surely already know that Statoil plans to change its name to "Equinor."

The name is apparently owned by a Oslo-registered veterinarian and is a nod to equality and the company's home country of Norway.

StatOil says it wants to be at the forefront of modern day energy systems and expects to invest 15-20% of total capex to "new energy solutions" by 2030. That's up from ~5% in 2017.

However, the primary investment thesis continues to be the company's oil and gas production growth and specifically exploiting the massive Johan Sverdrup discovery.

Renewable portfolio:

StatOil already has significant wind-energy assets and created the world's first floating wind farm. StatOil says these assets deliver "good cash flows and competitive returns."

Last October, STO announced it was entering the solar energy business in Brazil with an agreement to acquire a 40% share of the 162 MW Apodi solar farm from Scatec Solar, an independent Norwegian solar power producer, for $25 million. The purchase price includes a 50% share in the project execution company, enabling Statoil to participate in building and operating solar projects in the future. Apodi will provide an estimated 160,000 homes with electricity.

But the primary thesis: Johan Sverdrup:

But of course the primary investment thesis for StatOil continues to be development and exploitation of the massive Johan Sverdrup discovery with its 3 billion boe potential. STO has a 40% interest in the field and is the operator. Daily production during first phase estimated at 440,000 bpd with peak production estimated to reach 660,000 bpd. Phase I production is expected to start in late 2019.

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Phantom Touch and Vampire Drain

Also over at SeekingAlpha today -- a must read.

Archived; likely to end up behind a paywall.