Equinor (EQNR) to Extend Heimdal Offshore Platforms’ Life


Equinor ASA


EQNR

recently announced that it has decided to extend profitable operations at the Heimdal gas center, located in the northern North Sea, to 2023. Operator Equinor has a 29.4% stake in Heimdal. It has Spirit Energy, Petoro,

TotalEnergies SE


TTE

, and LOTOS Exploration and Production as partners with 28.8%, 20%, 16.7%, and 5% interest, respectively.

The Heimdal gas center is a natural gas processing and distribution hub equipped with an integrated steel platform and a riser platform. It is located in the PL036, and processes gas produced from Valemon gas and condensate field. Apart from Valemon, Heimdal has processed hydrocarbons from other satellite fields like Huldra, Skirne, Atla and Vale.

Equinor and its partners in the project have decided to boost production from Valemon as three to four gas wells are likely to be drilled in 2021 and next year. This is expected to help Heimdal carry on profitable operations longer than previous estimation (2021/2022).

Heimdal was discovered in 1972 and production commenced in 1985. Since then, it has produced 46 billion standard cubic meters of natural gas, and 7 million cubic meters of oil and condensate. It was reconstructed as a gas processing hub in 2001. Equinor estimates Heimdal to have processed around the same volume of hydrocarbons, as it has produced, from the satellite fields.

Following the closing of operations in the facility in 2023, the remaining reserves in Valemon will be sent to Kvitebjørn and Kollsnes. The riser platform owner at the Heimdal site, Gassled, will likely reconnect the dry gas pipelines in the hub with a subsea bypass. Earlier this year, Equinor awarded platform removal contracts to Heerema, a company which installed the same in 1985. Between 2025 and 2027, the platforms are expected to be removed from Heimdal, and brought to the shore for scraping as well as recirculation.

Price Performance

Shares of the company have gained 42.3%, outperforming the

industry

’s 27.2% growth in the past year.

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Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

The company currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked players in the energy space include

Earthstone Energy, Inc.


ESTE

and

PHX Minerals Inc.


PHX

, each having a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see


the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here



.

Earthstone’s sales for 2021 are expected to jump 87.7% year over year.

PHX Minerals’ bottom line for 2021 is expected to surge 180% year over year.

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