FORM 20-F

(Mark One)

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We are Equinor

We are an international energy company

committed to playing a leading role in the

energy transition – providing for continued

value creation in a net zero future.

We energise the lives of 170 million people.

Every day.

We continue to pursue our strategy of always safe, high value and low carbon. To position ourselves

as a leading company in the energy transition, we are accelerating value growth in renewable energy, positioning for low carbon solutions and focusing and optimising our oil and gas business.

Below are some key figures from 2020.

2020 highlights

January:

Official opening of the Johan Sverdrup field by the Prime Minister and prolonged life for Statfjord to 2040. Announced ambition to cut absolute emissions in Norway to near zero by 2050.

February:

Launch of global climate roadmap with ambition to reduce net carbon intensity, grow renewable energy capacity tenfold by 2026 and reach carbon neutral global operations by 2030.

March:

Covid-19 Task Force established as corporate project to handle both short-term immediate response and long-term implications. Launch of USD 3 billion action plan to strengthen financial resilience and suspension of the share buy-back programme.

April:

Approval of the PDO for Hywind Tampen and launch of a new organizational unit focusing on improved value creation on late life fields on the NCS.  Executed a total of USD 5 billion in the debt capital market.

May:

Divested minority shareholding in Lundin Energy AB. Final investment decision (FID) for the transport and storage of CO2 project Northern Lights.  Executed a total of USD 1.5 billion in the debt capital market.

June:

Agreement on way forward for Krafla, Fulla and North of Alvheim on the NCS. Launch of maritime climate ambitions and FID on partially electrification of the Sleipner field.

July:

Plan for the world’s first at scale clean hydrogen plant with Hydrogen to Humber Saltend in the UK. Discovery of gas and condensate in the Kvitebjørn field. 

August:

Anders Opedal announced as new president and CEO of Equinor from 2 November. First logistics operation conducted with a drone to Troll A.

September:

Partnering with bp in US offshore wind to capture value and create platform for growth. Submission of PDO of the Breidablikk field.  Fire at Hammerfest LNG causing the plant to be closed for up to a year. 

October:

Publication of externally led review of Equinor’s investments in the US. Construction started for the world’s largest floating wind farm, Hywind Tampen. Two discoveries of oil offshore Newfoundland Canada.

November:

New corporate structure and corporate executive committee announced. Equinor sets ambition to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, including emissions from production and use of energy. Financial close on Dogger Bank A and B. 

December:

Snorre Expansion on stream ahead of schedule. Farm down of 10% in Dogger Bank A and B. Go-ahead for the Northern Lights project with the governments funding decision. Equinor acquires interests in conventional onshore assets in Russia.

Annual report at a glance

To better facilitate for an overview of the report, Equinor presents key events and results for 2020 and early 2021. For further details please see the reference pages for each item.  

Changes to reporting segments in section 2.2

Equinor announced changes to the reporting segments, corporate structure and the Corporate Executive Committee. Also, from 1 June 2021, NES will be renamed to Renewables (REN). Read more about Equinors segments in note 3 Segments in the Consolidated financial statements.

E&P Norway in section 2.3

Production from the Johan Sverdrup field is expected to increase to 535,000 barrels per day by mid-2021.

E&P International in section 2.4

Equinor's entitlement production outside Norway and US was 14% of Equinor's total entitlement production in 2020.

E&P USA in sections 2.5 and 2.10

On 9 October, Equinor published its report from the review into its US investments. The main objective of the report was to identify learning and improvements, and the work was led by PwC. The report showed that the accumulated net loss, including impairments, for all Equinor’s activities in the USA was USD 21.5 billion up until 2019, which have increased to USD 25 billion at the end of 2020 following the negative results in E&P USA in 2020.

MMP in section 2.6

On 28 September 2020, a fire in the air inlet at a turbine at the LNG plant at Melkøya  was reported and on 2 December, a fire at the methanol plant at Tjeldbergodden  was reported.

NES in section 2.7

In 2020, Equinor participated in offshore wind and solar assets with a total capacity of 1.3 gigawatts, of which 0.75 gigawatts are operated by Equinor. Equinor equity generation capacity is 0.5 gigawatts. The equity renewable power generation in 2020 was 1.7 terawatt hours.

Operational performance in section 2.9

The 2020 reserves replacement ratio was negative 5% and the corresponding three-year average was 95%.

IFRS net income in section 2.10

The Group’s net income was negative  USD 5.5 billion, and were largely affected by the market turbulence for liquid and gas prices. Average liquids prices were down 35% and average invoiced gas prices for Europe and North America were down 38% and 29%, respectively. For further information on prices, see also table Operational data in section 2.9 Operational performance.

Climate and the energy transition in section 2.13

Equinor sets ambitions to reach carbon neutral global operations by 2030 and to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, including emissions from production and use of energy. Since 2016 we have been testing the resilience of our portfolio against the scenarios from the IEAs World Energy Outlook (WEO) report. Further details about the portfolio sensitivity test are available in our 2020 Sustainability Report.

Impairments in section 4.1

Total impairments in E&P USA in the period 2007 till 2020 is USD 16.5 billion including impairment of goodwill of USD 1.2 billion and exploration assets USD 1.3 billion. For more information about impairments per segment, see Note 10 Property, plant and equipment to the Consolidated financial statements.

Payments to Governments in section 5.4

In 2020, Equinor paid USD 2,623 million in taxes to Norway. For further details on Payments to governments per country related to extractive activities, see section 5.4 Payments to governments.

Selected country information

Lotte Halvorsen and Renate Lysen, Melkøya, Norway.

About the report

This document constitutes the Annual report on Form 20-F pursuant to the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as applicable to foreign private issuers, for Equinor ASA for the year ended 31 December 2020. Cross references to the Form 20-F requirements are set out in section 5.10 in this report. The Annual report on Form 20-F and other related documents are filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). The (statutory) Annual report (and Form 20-F) are filed with the Norwegian Register of company accounts.

The Equinor Annual report and Form 20-F may be downloaded from Equinor’s website at www.equinor.com/reports. References to this document or other documents on Equinor’s website are included as an aid to their location and are not incorporated by reference into this document. All SEC filings made available electronically by Equinor may be found at www.sec.gov.

Table of contents

Geir Morten Viken, Tjeldbergodden, Norway.

Equinor’s business environment

Market overview

The global economic contraction for 2020 is estimated at 3.8%, which is the deepest decline since the global financial crisis a decade ago. Covid-19 infections triggered lockdowns, social distancing and travel restrictions that led to a global collapse in business sentiment and disruption in economic activity for the first half of 2020. It also sparked financial distress among businesses and households. Many governments across the world were forced to engage in unprecedented fiscal and monetary policy response to avert a deeper recession.

The global economy partially recovered in the second half of 2020 as governments eased restrictions in the third quarter. However, Western economies experienced a resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic during the fourth quarter and were forced to reintroduce stricter virus containment measures. This hurt mobility and economic activity and will continue to do so for some months ahead. Economic activity is likely to remain subdued until the containment measures are lifted.

The estimated growth rate for USA in 2020 is negative 3.4%. Democratic control of the White House and Congress increases the potential for ambitious US fiscal stimulus for pandemic response and economic recovery in 2021. The year was also troublesome for the Eurozone, with waves of covid-19 infections, lockdowns across the continent and the UK officially leaving the trading bloc, resulting in an estimated GDP contraction of 7.2% for 2020. China’s economy recovered from the depth of the pandemics in the first half of 2020 and its GDP expanded by 2.3% for 2020. If the country continues to succeed in combating virus resurgence, a fast and broad-based recovery is likely to support the global economy’s fragile ascent back to pre-pandemic levels of activity.

Global economic growth is projected to recover in 2021. Looking ahead, recovery in manufacturing activity and trade could persist. Vaccination has started in many countries with hope to inoculate a high share of vulnerable people and healthcare workers during the spring. However, the global economic outlook for the first half of 2021 could remain weak and bumpy because of the intensification of the virus outbreaks, more transmissible variants and continued lockdown measures as vaccine rollout is still too slow. An economic rebound for second half of 2021 could happen if mass vaccination roll-out ramps up and more fiscal policy support with favourable spillover effects further lift global activity. Downside risks remain, including a possible worsening Covid-19 development, vaccine shortage and distribution challenges, prolonged lockdowns, premature withdrawal of fiscal aid and financial stress. Upside risks can be found in a stronger than expected impact of the expected US fiscal stimulus package and swifter mass vaccination.

Oil prices and refinery margins

2020 was a challenging year on multiple fronts, and no less for oil markets which weathered unprecedented volatility. Dated Brent reached highs of USD 69.9 per barrel as well as a low of USD 13.2 per barrel, averaging USD 41.7 per barrel for the year. The loss of demand owing to the spread of Covid-19 and subsequent mobility restrictions, macroeconomic risks, measures by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (Opec+) and global geopolitical instability all played a part in market volatility in 2020.

The year started off with a short-lived price spike after the assassination of Iran’s top general (Qasem Soleimani) on
3  January when it became clear that Iran would not retaliate. Prices also barely reacted to the conflict in Libya, where some
1 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil were removed from markets. This was explained by markets having begun worrying about oil demand rather than supply after reports of a new coronavirus being spread across China. In February, as this virus began to spread beyond Asia, the responsibility fell on Opec+ to instigate a supply cut deal to help balance markets.

In March, Opec+ struggled to find a common path when Saudi Arabia and Russia disagreed over the state of the global markets. Unable to reach an agreement, Opec+ stopped the production cuts and instead increased production from April. The timing created significant and drastic price declines as substantial volumes poured into the markets just as most of the world was beginning to impose lockdowns to stop the spread of Covid-19, thereby severely crippling oil demand.

As a result, dated Brent reached its lowest point in 2020 on
21 April, as fears of storage shortages drove prices down further. The situation was so severe that US WTI benchmark settled in negative territory for the first time ever, on 20 April, as some paper-market players at Nymex failed to exit their positions at a monthly expiry and were forced to pay others to handle the physical oil they ended up owning.

Given the gravity of the crisis, Opec+ unified later in mid-April and agreed to substantial cuts in production from May after which prices began to stabilise. Other producers, such as Canada and Norway, also agreed to reduce their production. Owing to significantly lower prices, parts of US shale production were shut in, contributing to further production decline. With subdued supply and a gradual uptick in global oil demand supported by an economic rebound in China and a gradual relaxation of mobility restrictions around parts of the world, Dated Brent climbed to an average of USD 44.80 per barrel in August.

After the summer highs, prices came under pressure yet again in September and October, as the demand recovery stalled on the back of a second wave of Covid-19 infections, and further lockdowns. A ceasefire in Libya’s conflict by the end of October amplified pressure on prices, as another potential 1 million bpd of supply was about to return to markets. However, the bearish sentiment was replaced by a price rally following news of a successful Covid-19 vaccine breakthrough in early November, which increased expectations of a vaccine rollout in some countries by year-end. In addition, at the beginning of December, the Opec+ alliance agreed to raise their production only incrementally from January, as opposed to their previous plan. On those optimistic notes, Dated Brent ended the year trading at USD 50.5 per barrel.

Refinery margins

Refinery margins were unusually low in 2020. Margins were near normal in January but weakened in February as the first Covid-19 outbreak in China led to reduced products demand there. The outbreak of Covid-19 outside China was unsynchronised, hitting first Europe and then US in March. Expectations at the time were for a two-month shut-down, which would mainly affect personal mobility. That made gasoline margins collapse.  Lower refinery throughput led to an expected shortage of diesel. Diesel margins therefore went high for a period, as diesel demand was expected to hold up better than gasoline. However, as jet fuel demand also collapsed, the excess jet fuel molecules had to be blended into diesel, leading to a severe oversupply and a huge global build-up of diesel inventory. Those high inventories kept diesel margins depressed for the rest of the year. In May and June, the nominal refinery margins went extremely low against the recovery in crude oil prices. However, several refineries were then running on crude oil bought very cheap during March and April and enjoyed significantly stronger actual margins. Global products demand improved from the low levels in April and May, but not to 2019 levels. This meant that there was an excess of refining capacity, which propelled refinery consolidations mainly in the US and Asia. Margins therefore stayed low for the rest of the year. There was an uptick in October when the pandemic was thought to be ending, but new outbreaks sent demand and margins lower again in November and December.

Within the product groups, the collapse in demand was most severe for jet fuel and gasoline. Demand for petrochemical feedstock, i.e. naphtha and LPG, held up a near 2019 levels, partly to produce plastics for protective gear like face masks. Demand for heavy fuel oils as bunker fuel for ships also held up well. The low refinery output kept margins for these products quite strong. As such, simple refineries with high yields of naphtha and low-sulphur fuel oil did relatively better than complex refineries with upgrading capacity.

Natural gas prices 

Gas prices – Europe

The National Balancing Point (NBP) started 2020 at 3.6 USD/MMBtu, down 12% from December 2019. Gazprom reached an agreement with Naftogaz for transit of Russian gas via Ukraine, providing some assurance on stability of supply to Europe, as Nord Stream 2 is not completed. During the first quarter, a mild winter and abundant LNG added bearishness to prices. As Europe closed

down on Covid-19 restrictions, gas demand fell drastically during the second quarter and prices reached levels as low as 1.4 USD/MMBtu (price for May 2020). Demand received some support during summer on above-average temperatures and as lockdowns eased. Supply remained robust and storages reached almost full capacity. During this period, Ukraine storages played an important role in providing an additional destination for gas flows. Prices recovered somewhat during the summer and averaged 3.9 USD/MMBtu in September supported by planned and unplanned outages. Cold weather in the fourth quarter helped lift demand despite tighter Covid-19 restrictions across Europe. NBP averaged 6.2 USD/MMBtu in December as LNG flows to Europe remained limited due to high JKM pricing, tightness in the Panama Canal and re-route of cargoes to Asia.

Gas prices – North America

The Henry Hub spot price averaged 2.0 USD/MMBtu for the year, down 0.5 USD/MMBtu Y/Y. Prices were in a steady decline in first half of the year amid nation-wide Covid-19 related lockdowns, warm winter, resilient production and numerous cancelled LNG export cargos. As a result, storage climbed to 20% above the five-year average by the second quarter and pushed the average price for the month of June to a 25-year low of 1.6 USD/MMBtu. However, improved international demand for US LNG cargos and continued Y/Y decline in production, drove prices to annual highs around 2.5 USD/MMBtu in the fourth quarter. Y/Y production was down for the first time since 2016, averaging 2.56 Bcm/d. 

Global LNG prices 

The global LNG market has been in a liquefaction growth cycle for a few years and new supply capacity continued to enter the market at the start of the year. Market weakness was expected, but a milder than expected winter combined with the effects of lockdowns due the Covid-19 pandemic further exacerbated and led to extremely weak prices. From an average price of 3.6 USD/MMBtu in the first quarter price fell to 2.13 USD/MMBtu in the second quarter, and there were several days in May when LNG traded below 2 USD/MMBtu. At this price level many producers cannot cover operational expense, and most of these producers are in the US. As many as 170 to 180 US cargoes were over spring and summer months cancelled, and Egypt, which recently had restarted production and exports (plants mothballed in 2012 due to lack of feed gas), stopped exporting. Price over the third quarter averaged 3.6 USD/MMBtu. Due to a combination of a series of outages (Australia, US, Malaysia, Nigeria and Norway), early start of heating season in China with cold spells also affecting Japan and South Korea as well as lack of sufficient shipping exacerbated by constraints in the Panama Canal, the LNG market tightened significantly in the fourth quarter when price averaged 8 USD/MMBtu. Yearly price for 2020 averaged around 4.4 USD/MMBtu and price at the end of the year prompt LNG price at 15.1 USD/MMBtu was seen. 

 European electricity and CO₂ prices

Western European (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain and Italy) electricity prices averaged 34.02 EUR/MWh in 2020, which was 23% lower than in 2019. 2020 suffered from a demand destruction linked to the coronavirus pandemics (104TWh in comparison to the 5Y average), combined with a windy first half of 2020 and a sunny second quarter. While the fourth quarter showed higher prices on the back of higher CO₂ prices, and lower temperature forecasts.

The European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS) CO₂ price continued to strength in 2020, despite some volatility due to different coronavirus waves, as well as the rocky Brexit negotiations. The price reached a high of 33.4 EUR/t in December, with the new ambitious EU climate targets under the Green Deal being the main driver. Positive coronavirus vaccine development and a deal between UK and EU provided further support towards year-end.

Equinor’s corporate strategy

Equinor is an international energy company committed to value creation in a net-zero future inspired by its vision of shaping the future of energy.

Equinor continues to pursue its strategy of always safe, high value and low carbon. To position itself as a leading company in the energy transition, Equinor is accelerating profitable growth in renewables energy, developing for low carbon solutions and focusing and optimising its oil and gas business.

The energy context is expected to remain volatile and characterised by geopolitical shifts, challenges in liquids- and gas resource replenishments, market cyclicality, structural changes to costs and increasing momentum towards low carbon. Equinor expects a continuous volatility in energy prices. Equinor’s strategic response is focused on creating value by building a more resilient, diverse, and option-rich portfolio, delivered by an empowered organisation. To do so, Equinor is concentrating its strategy realisation and development around the following areas:

·           Optimise oil and gas portfolio to enhance value creation – strengthening competitiveness and value creation while reducing emissions

·           Accelerate profitable growth in renewables energy – leveraging our leading position in offshore wind and building on our competitive advantages

·           Develop low-carbon solutions and value chains – using our capabilities to develop low carbon solutions and value chains

Equinor’s unique position on the Norwegian continental shelf has enabled the company to develop new technologies and scale them industrially. Equinor has today a strong set of industrial value drivers:

·           Operational excellence

·           World-class recovery

·           Leading project deliveries

·           Premium market access

·           Digital leadership

In sum, these drivers strengthen the company’s competitiveness. Internationally, Equinor is increasingly expanding its new energies business and taking the role of operator, allowing the company to leverage its industrial value drivers. Across its business, Equinor is targeting opportunities that play to its strengths.

Equinor is actively shaping its future portfolio guided by the following strategic principles:

·           Cash generation capacity – generating positive cash flows from operations, even at low oil and gas prices, in order to sustain dividend and investment capacity through the economic cycles

·           Capex flexibility – having sufficient flexibility in organic capital expenditure to be able to respond to market downturns and avoid value destructive measures as well as ability to always prioritise projects expected to deliver greater value.

·           Capture value from cycles – ensuring the ability and capacity to act counter-cyclically to capture value through the cycles

·           Low-carbon advantage – maintaining competitive advantage as a leading company in carbon-efficient oil and gas production, while building a low-carbon business to capture new opportunities in the energy transition

To deliver on the strategy, Equinor has identified four key strategic enablers that will continue to support the business’s needs:

·           The safety and security of our people and the integrity of our operations is Equinor’s top priority. 2020 has been an unusual year in many ways, and therefore we are extra proud to say that our safety results this year for our operations is the best we have had in this decade. However, that does not mean that we are satisfied with where we are, our vision is zero harm and we still have too many incidents. We need more forceful implementation of existing initiatives and stimulate to continuous improvement. The latter part of the year was dominated by incidents on several of our onshore plants in Norway and will be a high focus area throughout 2021 to ensure that we capture learning and implement actions to prevent similar incidents in the future. ​

·           Technology and innovation: Equinor recognise technology and innovation as enablers for its strategy. This is also emphasized going forward with establishment of the new business area TDI (Technology, Digital & Innovation) from June 2021. Equinor’s focus during 2020 has been on sharpening the R&D portfolio to deliver on the corporate strategy of Always safe, High value and Low carbon. Solutions within digitalisation, automation and robotics improve safety by reducing man-hour exposure, increasing data availability and data quality for safety decisions. Tangible value creation continues being realised by utilising digital solutions. As an example, Johan Sverdrup reported NOK 2 billion (pre-tax, Equinor share) in additional revenue creation through digitalisation after first year in operations. Digital solutions furthermore increase the level of autonomy, thereby improving the value potential of our projects. Solutions that enable electrified, low manned development concepts are a central part of our portfolio moving forward. Energy efficiency, CCUS and hydrogen technologies contribute to our low carbon goals.

·           Empowered people: Equinor promotes a culture of collaboration, innovation, and safety, guided by its values. A diverse and inclusive Equinor continues to recruit and develop employees to deliver on the future-fit portfolio ambition.

·           Stakeholder engagement: Equinor engages with stakeholders to secure industrial legitimacy, its social contract, trust, and strategic support from stakeholders. This engagement extends to internal and external collaboration, partnerships, and other co-operation with suppliers, partners, governments, NGOs, and communities in which Equinor operates.

Equinor maintains its advantage as a leading company in carbon-efficient oil and gas production while building a low carbon business to capture new opportunities in the energy transition. Equinor believes a lower carbon footprint will make it more competitive in the future and sustainability is integrated in Equinor’s strategic work.

Equinor’s new climate roadmap presents a series of short-, mid- and long-term ambitions to reach net-zero emissions in 2050 and to ensure a competitive and resilient business model in the energy transition, fit for long term value creation and consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Equinor aims to:

·           Have net-zero carbon emissions, from initial production to final consumption, of energy produced by 2050,

·           grow renewable energy capacity tenfold by 2026, developing as a global offshore wind major, and

·           strengthen its industry leading position on carbon efficient production, aiming to reach carbon neutral global operations by 2030.

Equinor expects to meet the 2050 net-zero ambition primarily through significant growth in renewables and changes in the scale and composition of its oil and gas portfolio. In addition, operational efficiency and further development of new businesses such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and hydrogen are expected to be increasingly important. Equinor may also use recognised offset mechanisms and natural sinks as a supplement. To reach carbon neutral global operations, the main priority will be to reduce

GHG emissions from Equinor’s own operations. Remaining emissions are expected to be compensated either through quota trading systems, such as the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), or high-quality offset mechanisms. Further information can be found in section 2.13 Safety, security and sustainability.

Norwegian continental shelf – Transforming the NCS to deliver sustainable value for decades

For more than 40 years, Equinor has explored, developed, produced oil and gas from the NCS. It represents approximately 60% of Equinor’s equity production at 1,3 mboe per day in 2020. NCS cash and value generation capacity will continue to be substantial going forward, even at lower oil and gas prices

Equinor will continue to improve the efficiency, reliability, carbon emissions and lifespan of fields already in production. In January 2020 Equinor announced new climate ambitions for its operated offshore installations and onshore plants in Norway. Driven by a large remaining resource potential on the NCS, the aim is to reduce the absolute greenhouse gas emissions from with 40% by 2030, 70% by 2040 and to near zero by 2050. The Hywind Tampen, Oseberg and Sleipner electrification projects have been approved in 2020 and early 2021. Also a new unit (FLX) for Late life assets on the NCS has been established. The purpose is to develop new ways of working to realize the full potential of our late life fields. The results from FLX so far are promising with increased production and reduced unit production cost. Equinor is continuing to add highly profitable barrels through increased oil and gas recovery. We are making progress towards the ambition of 60% oil recovery and 85% gas recovery for operated fields. During the last year large volumes have been matured to economical feasible. Overall volume growth is expected towards a potential historically high in production levels in 2025.

In 2020, the Johan Sverdrup field has increased its daily production capacity to around 500,000 barrels of oil per day – 60,000 barrels more than the original basis and it is  expected to further increase its daily production capacity up to 535,000 barrels of oil by mid-2021. Phase 2 of the Johan Sverdrup field development is on schedule, and production start is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2022. The PDO for Breidablikk was delivered September 2020. The field will be tied in to the Grane platform and the expected production from the field is about 200 million barrels. Snorre expansion project came on stream ahead of schedule in December 2020. This major Increased Oil Recovery project will add reserves and help extend the productive life of the Snorre field through 2040. In the next few years, Equinor will bring several large projects on stream including Martin Linge, and Johan Castberg, and the refurbished Njord in addition to a large number of subsea tiebacks.

International oil and gas – Deepen core areas and optimise the portfolio

Equinor has been growing its international portfolio for over 25 years representing approximately 40% of Equinor’s equity production at 0,8 million boe per day in 2020. In 2020, Equinor made further progress in high grading and de-risking its international oil and gas portfolio, including: strengthening its onshore position in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta; moving from offshore to new conventional onshore assets in Russia’s Eastern Siberia; and making important discoveries in the US GoM and offshore Canada. Key projects in Equinor’s international portfolio include Bacalhau (formerly Carcará), Bay du Nord, Rosebank, Vito, Peregrino phase 2, BM-C-33, North Platte, North Komsomolskoye, and Block 17 satellites in Angola.

In Brazil, Equinor is progressing on delivering a growing and competitive portfolio of high-quality assets in all development phases. In the United States, Equinor optimised its exploration portfolio in the GoM through equity share redistribution and through new lease sales.

Equinor is focused on continuing to deliver improvements on cost, cashflow, and earnings to increase competitiveness across its international portfolio. Equinor aims to reduce carbon intensity across its operated international portfolio, to an ambition level of <8kg CO₂ per boe by 2030. More information on assets in operation and projects under development internationally is provided in section 2.4 E&P International – Exploration & Production International.

New energy solutions – Developing a high value renewable business 

The renewable industry is changing and growing at an unprecedented pace, presenting opportunities for decades of growth. Equinor has a strong renewable development portfolio, and we are leveraging our core competencies in managing complex oil and gas projects when growing in offshore wind. By 2026 Equinor expects to increase installed capacity from renewable projects to between 4 and 6 GW, Equinor share, mainly based on the current project portfolio. This is around 10 times higher than today’s capacity, implying an annual average growth rate of more than 30% in electricity production. Towards 2035, Equinor expects to increase installed renewables capacity further to between 12 and 16 GW, depending on availability of attractive project opportunities.

Becoming a global offshore wind major 

The last year has been transformational for Equinor’s offshore wind portfolio. With the financial close of the 2 first phases of Dogger Bank (UK) and securing the offtake agreement in Empire Wind (US), we are on the path to becoming a global offshore wind major. Dogger Bank will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm development with an installed capacity of 3.6GW - enough to supply 5% of UK electricity demand. 

During the period Equinor was selected for largest-ever US offshore wind award. Empire 2 and Beacon will add 2,4 GW to the existing 816MW from Empire 1. Those 3 projects will provide renewable electricity to one of the busiest cities in the world: New York city and New York State. We have a decade of operating experience from floating offshore wind in Norway and Scotland and are currently building the Hywind Tampen project which will be the first floating windfarm connected to an oil and gas installation. Equinor believes

floating wind has a large potential as up to 80 % of the world’s offshore wind potential will likely require floating solutions and Equinor is already well progressed in its efforts to industrialize floating wind. Our ambition is to bring floating wind towards commerciality by 2030. 

Maturing opportunities in onshore renewables 

We believe in diversifying renewable business and pursuing additional growth options in new markets and geographies. Having a flexible portfolio gives us the ability to provide power from numerous renewable energy sources including offshore wind, solar and onshore wind. Over time we expect to build a profitable onshore growth platform in select power markets. Equinor is present in two solar projects in South America (Brazil and Argentina). Equinor now owns a total of 20,776,200 shares of Scatec ASA after 2019 acquisitions, representing 13.1% of the shares and votes.

Midstream, marketing and processing – Secure premium market access, grow value creation through cycles and build a low carbon business

MMP is responsible for marketing Equinor’s equity volumes of oil and gas, together with the Norwegian state’s (SDFI) with the objective of maximizing value creation for both parties. Equity volumes together with SDFI volumes and additional 3rd party volumes make MMP one of the world’s largest crude oil and natural gas marketers. MMP is also responsible for marketing and trading Equinor’s electricity generation and green certificates. In 2019, MMP closed the acquisition of Danske Commodities, one of Europe’s largest electricity traders, to support Equinor’s strategy to build a renewable business. In addition, MMP is responsible for developing low carbon solutions for Equinor, with current focus on transforming natural gas to hydrogen and developing carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) projects.

In 2020, MMP has made significant progress on developing low carbon solutions for a net zero future and delivered strong countercyclical trading results when the pandemic hit the oil and gas markets:

·           The Northern Lights (Equinor 33,33%, operator) which is part is part of the Norwegian full-scale CCS Longship project is under development and expected to come on stream in 2024. It represents the start of commercial CCS in Europe.

·           In the UK, Equinor is partner in the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) together with five other energy companies. The consortium is developing a CO₂ offshore transport and storage infrastructure in the UK, which will serve the proposed Net Zero Teesside project and Zero Carbon Humber project (led by Equinor) with the aim of decarbonizing these industrial clusters. In 2020, Equinor became a CO₂ storage license holder for the Endurance in the Southern UK North Sea together with BP and NGV, and the NEP partnership submitted a bid for funding further project development of the CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure through UK’s government’s industrial decarbonisation challenge

·           In July 2020, Equinor launched the UK H2H Saltend project (part of Zero Carbon Humber) which aims to anchor the low carbon infrastructure in the area and produce hydrogen at industrial scale in the Saltend chemical park. Established hydrogen pipelines will be expanded across the Humber, transporting hydrogen for use by multiple industry and power customers.

·           Progressed a plan to partially electrify the Norwegian Kårstø gas processing plant, reducing emissions by 0.5 MT CO₂.

·           Strong trading results, capturing significant value in volatile markets.

Group outlook

·          Organic capital expenditures^[2] are estimated at an annual average of USD 9-10 billion for 2021-2022^[3]

·           Equinor intends to continue to mature its attractive portfolio of exploration assets and estimates a total exploration activity level of around USD 0.9 billion for 2021, excluding signature bonuses, accruals and field development costs

·           Equinor’s ambition is to keep the unit of production cost in the top quartile of its peer group

·           For the period 2020–2026, production growth[4]  is expected to come from new projects resulting in around 3% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) based on current forecast

·           Scheduled maintenance activity is estimated to reduce equity production by around 50 mboe per day for the full year of 2021

·           Production³ for 2021 is estimated to be around 2% above 2020 level

These forward-looking statements reflect current views about future events and are, by their nature, subject to significant risks

and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. We continue to monitor the impact of Covid-19 on our operations. Deferral of production to create future value, production cuts, gas off-take, timing of new capacity coming on stream, operational regularity, the ongoing impact of Covid-19 and activity level in the US onshore represent the most significant risks related to the foregoing production guidance. There has been considerable uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic and we are still unable to predict the ultimate impact of this event, including impact on general economic conditions worldwide. Our future financial performance, including cash flow and liquidity, will be impacted by the extent and duration of the

current market conditions, the development in realised prices, including price differentials and the effectiveness of actions taken in response to the pandemic. For further information, see section Forward-looking statements.

History in brief

18 September 1972   

Equinor, formerly Statoil, was formed by a decision of the Norwegian parliament and incorporated as a limited liability company under the name Den norske stats oljeselskap AS. At the time owned 100% by the Norwegian State, Equinor's initial role was to be the government's commercial instrument in the development of the oil and gas industry in Norway. Growing in parallel with the Norwegian oil and gas industry, Equinor’s operations were primarily focused on exploration, development and production of oil and gas on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).

1979 – 1981

The Statfjord field was discovered in the North Sea and commenced production. In 1981 Equinor was the first Norwegian company to be given operatorship for a field, at Gullfaks in the North Sea.

1980s and 1990s

Equinor grew substantially through the development of the NCS (Statfjord, Gullfaks, Oseberg, Troll and others). Equinor also became a major player in the European gas market by entering into large sales contracts for the development and operation of gas transport systems and terminals. During these decades, Equinor was also involved in manufacturing and marketing in Scandinavia and established a comprehensive network of service stations. This line of business was fully divested in 2012.

2001

Equinor was listed on the Oslo and New York stock exchanges and became a public limited company under the name Statoil ASA, now Equinor ASA, with a 67% majority stake owned by the Norwegian State.

2007 - 2018

Equinor’s ability to fully realise the potential of the NCS and grow internationally was strengthened through the merger with Norsk Hydro's oil and gas division on 1 October 2007. Equinor’s business grew as a result of substantial investments on the NCS and internationally. Equinor delivered the world’s longest multiphase pipelines on the Ormen Lange and Snøhvit gas fields, and the giant Ormen Lange development project was completed in 2007.

Equinor also expanded into Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Nigeria, UK, and the US Gulf of Mexico, among others. Equinor’s US onshore operations represents its largest international production outside Norway, and with the Peregrino field, Equinor is the largest international operator in Brazil.

2018 and 2019

Statoil ASA changed its name to Equinor ASA following approval of the name change by the company’s annual general meeting on 15 May 2018. The name supports the company’s strategy and development as a broad energy company in addition to reflecting Equinor’s evolution and identity as a company for the generations to come.

The record-breaking Johan Sverdrup field came on stream in October 2019. It is powered by electricity from shore, makes it one of the most carbon-efficient fields worldwide.

2020

Equinor sets ambitions to reach carbon neutral global operations by 2030 and to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, including emissions from production and use of energy.

Equinor announced changes to the reporting segments, corporate structure and the Corporate Executive Committee (CEC) to further strengthen its ability to deliver on Equinor’s always safe, high value, low carbon strategy. The changes will support improved value creation from Equinor’s world-class oil and gas portfolio, accelerated profitable growth within renewables and the development of low carbon solutions.

Current activities

Equinor’s access to crude oil in the form of equity, governmental and third-party volumes makes Equinor a large seller of crude oil, and Equinor is the second-largest supplier of natural gas to the European market. Processing, refining, offshore wind and carbon capture and storage are also part of our operations.

In recent years, Equinor has utilised its expertise to design and manage operations in various environments to grow upstream activities outside the traditional area of offshore production.

Equinor operates in more than 30 countries and as of 31 December 2020 employs 21,245 people worldwide.

Equinor’s head office is located at Forusbeen 50, 4035 Stavanger, Norway. The telephone number of its registered office is +47 51 99 00 00.

Equinor’s competitive position

Key factors affecting competition in the oil and gas industry are oil and gas supply and demand, exploration and production costs, global production levels, alternative fuels, and environmental and governmental regulations. When acquiring assets and licences for exploration, development and production and in refining, marketing and trading of crude oil, natural gas and related products, in addition to renewable energy licences and projects, Equinor competes with other integrated oil and gas companies as well as other energy companies.

Equinor continues to explore new business opportunities in offshore wind, solar, hydrogen and carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS). Improvements in cost and technology for renewables have rapidly changed the landscape in the recent years. Equinor is a player within the renewables business with ambitious goals. Equinor’s strategy is always safe, high value, low carbon and Equinor is committed to a sustainable energy future and to reach a net zero emission society.

Equinor's ability to remain competitive will depend, among other things, on continuous focus on reducing costs and improving efficiency as well as the ability to seize opportunities in new business areas within renewables and utilise new opportunities for digitalisation. It will also depend on technological innovation to maintain long-term growth in reserves and production.

The information about Equinor's competitive position in the strategic report is based on a number of sources such as investment analyst reports, independent market studies, and internal assessments of market share based on publicly available information about the financial results and performance of market players.

Equinor’s value chain

Corporate structure

Equinor is a broad international energy company and its value chain includes most phases from exploration of hydrocarbons through developing, production and manufacturing, marketing and trading, and a growing renewables business.

Equinor’s operations are managed through the following business areas: Development & Production Norway (DPN), Development & Production International (DPI), Development & Production Brazil (DPB), Marketing, Midstream & Processing (MMP), New Energy Solutions (NES), Technology, Projects & Drilling (TPD), Exploration (EXP) and Global Strategy & Business Development (GSB). The business areas are aggregated into five reporting segments; E&P Norway, E&P International, E&P USA, MMP and Other. For more information, see Segment reporting later in this chapter.

On 14 May 2020, Equinor announced a change in its internal reporting to management, impacting the composition of Equinor’s operating and reporting segments. Equinor’s upstream activities in the USA are now reported separately to management, and such information is also considered to be useful to the users of the financial statements, resulting in the exploration and production activities in the USA being considered a separate operating- and reporting segment as of the second quarter of 2020. Previously these activities were included in the DPI operating segment and presented as part of the E&P International reporting segment.

On 16 November 2020, Equinor announced changes to the corporate structure and the Corporate Executive Committee (CEC) to further strengthen its ability to deliver on Equinor’s always safe, high value, low carbon strategy. The changes are intended to support improved value creation from Equinor’s world-class oil and gas portfolio, accelerated profitable growth within renewables and the development of low carbon solutions. The new corporate structure will consist of six business areas and five corporate centre units. Exploration & Production Norway (EPN) and Exploration & Production International (EPI) will be established as two new business areas. Renewables (REN) will continue as a business area, renamed from New Energy Solutions (NES). Technology, Digital & Innovation (TDI) will be a separate business area, while Projects, Drilling & Procurement (PDP) will become a more focused business area. Marketing, Midstream & Processing (MMP) will be unchanged as a business area.

The current organisational structure will remain in place until the planned implementation takes effect by 1 June 2021.

Development & Production Norway (DPN)

Managing Equinor’s upstream activities on the NCS, DPN explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. DPN aims to ensure safe and efficient operations and transform the NCS to deliver sustainable value for many decades. DPN is shaping the future of the NCS with a digital transformation and solutions to achieve a lower carbon footprint and high recovery rates.

From 1 June 2021, DPN will be renamed to Exploration & Production Norway (EPN).

Development & Production International (DPI)

DPI manages Equinor’s worldwide upstream activities in all countries outside Norway and Brazil. DPI operates across six continents covering offshore and onshore exploration and extraction of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids; and implementing rigorous safety standards, technological innovations and environmental awareness. DPI's intent is to build and grow a competitive international portfolio - always safe, high value and low carbon.

From 1 June 2021, DPI will be renamed to Exploration & Production International (EPI).

Development & Production Brazil (DPB)

DPB manages the development and production of oil and gas resources in Brazil, which Equinor considers to be a core area for long-term growth. Equinor has a diverse portfolio in Brazil with activities in all development stages from exploration to production. Most of Brazil licences are in deep-water areas, some of them more than 2,900 metres deep. Equinor has been producing in Brazil since 2011 commencing with the Peregrino field, in the Campos Basin. DPB intends to grow a competitive portfolio creating value by increasing capacity and increasing recovery from mature fields, while reducing emissions and focusing on safety as priority.

From 1 June 2021, DPB will be included within the E&P International and no longer be a separate business area.

Development & Production USA (DPUSA)

DPUSA manages Equinor’s upstream activities in the US and US Gulf of Mexico, both onshore and offshore exploration, development and production of oil and gas. Equinor has been present in the US since 1987. DPUSA’s ambition is to develop a competitive portfolio in the US. DPUSA produced around 19% of Equinor’s total equity production of oil and gas in 2020.

From 24 July 2020, the operating segment DPUSA and the reporting segment E&P USA were reported in the second quarter 2020 report and onwards.

DPUSA is managed through the business area DPI, which from
1 June 2021 will be renamed to Exploration & Production International (EPI).

Marketing, Midstream & Processing (MMP)

MMP works to maximise value creation in Equinor’s global midstream and downstream positions. MMP is responsible for global marketing and trading of crude, petroleum products, natural gas and electricity, including marketing of the Norwegian State’s natural gas and crude on the NCS. MMP is responsible for onshore plants and transportation in addition to the development of value chains to ensure flow assurance for Equinor’s upstream production and to maximise value creation. As of 1 February 2020, Low carbon solutions such as carbon capture and storage and other low-carbon energy solutions are also a part of MMPs responsibility.

Arild Alstad, Tjeldbergodden, Norway.

New Energy Solutions (NES)

NES reflects Equinor’s long-term goal to complement Equinor’s oil and gas portfolio with profitable renewable energy. NES is responsible for wind farms, solar as well as other forms of renewable energy. NES aims to do this by combining Equinor’s oil and gas competence, project delivery capacities and ability to integrate technological solutions.

From the first quarter of 2021, NES will be reported as a separate reporting segment in the Consolidated financial statements. From 1 June 2021, NES will be renamed to Renewables (REN).

Technology, Projects & Drilling (TPD)

TPD is responsible for field development, well deliveries, technology development and procurement in Equinor. TPD aims to deliver safe, secure and efficient field development, including well construction, founded on world-class project execution and technology excellence. TPD utilises innovative technologies, digital solutions and carbon-efficient concepts to shape a competitive project portfolio at the forefront of the energy industry transformation. Sustainable value is being created together with suppliers through a simplified and standardised fit-for-purpose approach.

From 1 June 2021, Research & Technology will be transferred to a new business area Technology, Digital & Innovation (TDI), while Project, Drilling & Procurement (PDP) will make up another business area.

Exploration (EXP)

EXP manages Equinor’s worldwide exploration activities with the aim of positioning Equinor as one of the leading global exploration companies. This is achieved through accessing high potential new acreage in priority basins, globally prioritising and drilling more wells in growth and frontier basins, delivering near-field exploration on the NCS and other select areas, and achieving step-change improvements in performance.

From 1 June 2021, EXP will be included within E&P International and E&P Norway, based on the location of the exploration activities and no longer be a separate business area.

Global Strategy & Business Development (GSB)

GSB develops the corporate strategy and manages business development and merger and acquisition activities for Equinor. The ambition of the GSB business area is to closely link corporate strategy, business development and merger and acquisition activities to actively drive Equinor's corporate development.

From 1 June 2021, GSB will no longer be a separate business area, and its tasks will be covered by other corporate units.

Presentation

In the following sections in the report, the operations are reported according to the reporting segment. Underlying activities or business clusters are presented according to how the reporting segment organises its operations. See note 3 Segments to the Consolidated financial statements for further details.

As required by the SEC, Equinor prepares its disclosures about oil and gas reserves and certain other supplementary oil and gas disclosures based on geographic areas. Equinor’s geographical areas are defined by country and continent and consist of Norway, Eurasia excluding Norway, Africa, US and Americas excluding US. For more information, see section 4.2 Supplementary oil and gas information (unaudited) in the Financial statements and supplements chapter.

Segment reporting

The business areas DPI and DPB are aggregated into the reporting segment Exploration & Production International (E&P International). The aggregation has its basis in similar economic characteristics, such as growth in revenue, change in net income and long term return on assets as well as the assets’ long term and capital-intensive nature and exposure to volatile oil and gas commodity prices, the nature of products, service and production processes, the type and class of customers, the methods of distribution and regulatory environment. The reporting segments Exploration & Production Norway (E&P Norway), Exploration & Production USA (E&P USA) and MMP consist of the business areas DPN, DPUSA and MMP respectively. The business areas NES, GSB, TPD, EXP and corporate staffs and support functions are aggregated into the reporting segment “Other” due to the immateriality of these areas.

As from the second quarter of 2020, Equinor changed its internal reporting to management, impacting the composition of Equinor's operating and reporting segments. Equinor’s upstream activities in the USA are as from the second quarter reported separately to management. The fact that such information is also considered to be useful to the users of the financial statements, resulted in the exploration and production activities in the USA as of the second quarter of 2020 being considered a separate operating- and reporting segment. Previously these activities were included in the DPI operating segment and presented as part of the E&P International reporting segment. The new structure has been reflected retrospectively with restated comparable figures.

The majority of costs within the business areas GSB, TPD and EXP are allocated to the E&P International, E&P Norway, E&P USA and MMP reporting segments. Exploration activities are managed by the EXP business area, which has the global responsibility across the group for discovery and appraisal of new resources. Exploration activities are allocated to and presented in the respective development and production business areas.

Internal transactions in oil and gas volumes occur between reporting segments before such volumes are sold in the market. Equinor has established a market-based transfer pricing methodology for the oil and natural gas intercompany sales and purchases that meets the requirements of applicable laws and regulations. For further information, see section 2.9 Operational performance under Production volumes and prices.

Equinor eliminates intercompany sales when combining the results of reporting segments. Intercompany sales include transactions recorded in connection with oil and natural gas production in the E&P reporting segments, and in connection with the sale, transportation or refining of oil and natural gas production in the MMP reporting segment. Certain types of transportation costs are reported in both the MMP, E&P USA and the E&P International segments.

The E&P Norway segment produces oil and natural gas which is sold internally to the MMP segment. A large share of the oil produced by the E&P USA and E&P International segments is also sold through the MMP segment. The remaining oil and gas from the E&P International and E&P USA segments are sold directly in the market. In 2020, the average transfer price for natural gas for E&P Norway was USD 2.26 per mmbtu. The average transfer price was USD 4.46 per mmbtu in 2019. For the oil sold from the E&P Norway reporting segment to the MMP reporting segment, the transfer price is the applicable market-reflective price minus a cost recovery rate.

The following table shows certain financial information for the five reporting segments, including intercompany eliminations for the two-year period ending 31 December 2020.

For additional information, see note 3 Segments to the Consolidated financial statements.

The following tables show total revenues and other income by country.

Research and development

Technology and innovation are identified as enablers to deliver on Equinor’s strategy. Equinor continually researches, develops and implements innovative technologies to create opportunities and enhance the value of its current and future assets.  

Equinor’s technology strategy sets the direction for technology development and implementation to meet Equinor’s ambitions. Equinor prioritises and accelerates high-value technologies for broad implementation in existing and new value chains to:

·          Optimise production from existing and near field resources 

·          Develop low carbon solutions for oil and gas 

·          Discover and develop prolific basins and deep-water areas

·          Unlock low recovery reservoirs

·          Develop renewable energy opportunities

Equinor utilises a range of tools for the development of new technologies:  

·          In-house research and development 

·          Cooperation with academia, research institutes and suppliers 

·          Project-related development as part of field development activities 

·          Direct investment in technology start-up companies through Equinor Ventures’ investment activities 

·          Invitation to open innovation challenges as part of Equinor Innovate 

For additional information, see note 7 Other expenses to the Consolidated financial statements. 

Gina Krog, NCS.

Overview

The Exploration & Production Norway segment covers exploration, field development and operations on the NCS, which includes the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. E&P Norway aims to ensure safe and efficient operations, maximising the value potential from the NCS., E&P Norway transforms the NCS using digital and carbon-efficient solutions, and considers electrification of several offshore installations.

For 2020, Equinor reports production on the NCS from 41 Equinor-operated fields and eight partner-operated fields.

Key events and portfolio developments in 2020 and early 2021:

·           Equinor’s production on the NCS in 2020 was largely unaffected by Covid-19 precautionary measures, such as manning limitations and quarantining. The 12-week long personnel strike at heliports along the Norwegian coast this autumn also had little impact on the annual production.

·           On 9 January 2020, Equinor and the licence partners announced an extension to 2040 of the production from the Statfjord  field in the North Sea, enabled by a planned upgrade of the three platforms and maturation of new reserves for recovery.

·           On 14 January, Equinor was awarded 23 licences (14 as operator) on the NCS in the Awards for predefined areas round 2019 for mature areas.

·           On 30 January, a new compressor was brought on stream which increased the gas processing capacity at Troll C. The increased capacity has made it possible to accelerate and significantly increase production from the Fram  field, which is tied back to Troll.

·           On 8 April, the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy approved the plans for development and operation of Hywind Tampen, an 88 MW floating offshore wind pilot projected to provide wind power to the Snorre  and Gullfaks  installations in the Tampen area of the North Sea.

·           On 7 May, the Norwegian king in Council decided to reduce the oil production from the NCS from June through December. E&P Norway made corresponding cuts in the production, contributing to Norway’s commitment.

·           Equinor and the licence partners have decided to partially electrify the Sleipner field as well as other tie-ins, maximising the utilisation of power from shore to the area. A revised plan for development and operation was submitted to the authorities on 9 June.

·           On 11 June, Equinor and Aker BP announced that the parties have agreed on the commercial terms for a coordinated development of the licences Krafla, Fulla and North of Alvheim. The area in the North Sea holds several oil and gas discoveries.

·           On 28 September, Equinor and the licence partners submitted the plan for development and operation of the Breidablikk  oil field in the North Sea to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. First oil is scheduled for first half of 2024.

·           On 29 September, a fire occurred at the Melkøya liquefied natural gas plant in Hammerfest, reducing production by 50 000 boe/d in fourth quarter. A repaired Melkøya plant is expected to be back on stream in October 2021.

·           On 18 October, Equinor and the licence partners announced the oil production from the Johan Sverdrup field had been ramped up to 470,000 barrels per day. The production capacity is being increased, and by the turn of the year, the oil production reached 500,000 barrels per day, which is 60,000 more than originally planned in the PDO. By mid-2021, the production capacity is expected to reach 535,000 barrels per day. The giant Johan Sverdrup field was brought on stream on 5 October 2019 and is powered from shore.

·           On 12 November, Equinor and the licence partners awarded contracts for concept studies to further mature the development of the Wisting oil field in the Barents Sea, some 300 km off the Norwegian mainland.

·           On 13 November, the first phase of the Ærfugl field development in the Norwegian Sea achieved first gas. The subsea development is tied back to the Skarv FPSO, some 200 km west of Sandnessjøen. Equinor holds a 36.165% non-operating stake in the licence.

·           On 12 December, oil production commenced at Snorre expansion in the North Sea, an improved recovery project contributing to extending Snorre field life through 2040.

·           On 16 December, Equinor and the licence partners submitted an updated plan for development and operation of Statfjord Øst to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. The NOK 3 billion investments are expected to improve the recovery from Statfjord Øst and contribute to extending the life of the Statfjord C platform and the Statfjord Øst field towards 2040.

·           On 19 January 2021, Equinor was awarded 17 exploration licences (10 as operator) on the NCS in the Awards for predefined areas round 2020 for mature areas.

Troll A, NCS.

Major producing fields and field developments operated by Equinor and Equinor’s licence partners

Fields in production on the NCS

The table below shows E&P Norway's average daily entitlement production for the years ending 31 December 2020, 2019 and 2018. Production in 2020 increased due to to new fields in production and higher flexible gas outtake, partially offset by higher unplanned losses.

The following tables show the NCS entitlement production by fields in which Equinor was participating during the year ended
31 December 2020.