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Equinor ASA EQNR, a Norwegian integrated energy firm, has announced an unexpected shutdown of its Hammerfest LNG plant in Arctic northern Norway. The LNG plant suffered a compression failure, resulting in an unexpected shutdown. The outage is likely to affect production, as all output will cease for a week.
Compression Failure Halts Production
Equinor stated that a compressor that was used to remove CO2 from the gas stream and re-inject it into the ground suffered a failure. The repairs are expected to take a week. The company has decided to halt all production from the plant due to this disruption. Per a statement on the Gassco regulatory site, the company shall resume production at the LNG facility by Jan. 9, 2025.
Details of the Hammerfest LNG Plant
The Hammerfest LNG plant, also known as Melkoeya LNG, is the largest export facility for liquefied natural gas in Europe. The facility boasts the capacity to supply approximately 6.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually, which is enough to support 6.5 million households in Europe. Notably, the Hammerfest LNG plant contributes to about 5% of all gas exports from Norway.
The Melkoeya plant receives its gas supply from the Snoehvit field in the Barents Sea, operated jointly by Equinor, TotalEnergies, Petoro, Vår Energi and Harbour Energy. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Norway emerged as the largest supplier of natural gas across Europe. Most of Norway's exports flow via an offshore pipeline network through the North Sea.
EQNR’s Zacks Rank and Key Picks
EQNR currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks from the energy sector areTechnipFMC plc FTI, Sunoco LP SUN and Oceaneering International OII, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
TechnipFMC is a leading manufacturer and supplier of products, services and fully integrated technology solutions for the energy industry. The company’s total backlog witnessed a high of $14.7 million in the third quarter of 2024, indicating an 11.1% increase from the previous year’s level. This growing backlog ensures strong revenue growth for FTI.
Sunoco LP is one of the largest distributors of motor fuel in the United States. The partnership distributes fuel to independent dealers, commercial customers, convenience stores and distributors. Its current distribution yield is greater than that of the industry's composite stocks, providing unitholders with consistent returns.