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Equinor (EQNR) Postpones Norway's Hammerfest Facility Restart

Equinor ASA EQNR postponed plans to resume production at its Hammerfest liquefied natural gas ("LNG") facility in Norway.

Equinor previously planned to restart the Hammerfest facility early this month. However, the facility was shut down after a gas leak was detected in the cooling circuit.

The company cited that there were some technical problems during the ramp-up of the facility, which were not related to the gas leak. The challenges have been resolved.

Equinor is expecting the delivery of a component needed to continue the restart preparations, which is likely to take a few days. Hence, the restart has been postponed by a week.

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The Hammerfest facility suffered continued time overrun issues. Hammerfest is the only large-scale LNG facility in Europe. Once fully operational, it can process 18.4 million cubic meters of gas per day. This is equivalent to 5% of Norway’s gas export capacity.

The facility receives and processes natural gas from the Snohvit field in the Barents Sea. The gas is transferred in a 160-kilometer pipeline, which transports the field’s well stream to the Equinor-operated Hammerfest LNG facility.

Equinor is a leading player in the global LNG market. The restoration of the facility will address the plight of Europe’s strained LNG market, which has been seeking alternatives to Russian supplies due to the country’s aggressive invasion of Ukraine.

Headquartered in Stavanger, Norway, Equinor is one of the premier integrated energy companies in the world. Equinor’s key strategy is to capitalize on the renewable energy space and align operations with the Paris Climate Agreement. To combat climate change and capitalize on the rising clean energy demand, it is actively investing in renewable energy projects.

Equinor currently sports a Zack Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Some better-ranked players in the energy space are Sunoco LP SUN and Enterprise Products Partners LP EPD, each currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and Eni SPA E, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Sunoco reported first-quarter 2023 earnings of $1.41 per unit, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.21. Better-than-expected quarterly earnings were primarily driven by higher contributions from the Fuel Distribution and Marketing segment.

For 2023, SUN revised its adjusted EBITDA guidance upward to $865-$915 million from the previously mentioned $850-$900 million.

Enterprise Products 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.

Eni reported first-quarter adjusted earnings from continuing operations of $1.85 per American Depository Receipt (“ADR”), beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.39. Better-than-expected quarterly earnings resulted from an increase in refinery throughput volumes.

For 2023, Eni reiterated its total hydrocarbon production guidance of 1.63-1.67 MBoe/d, indicating an increase from the 1.61 MBoe/d reported in 2022. The company expects to discover exploration resources of 700 MBoe this year.

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Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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Equinor ASA (EQNR) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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