Norway likes to talk a big game about energy transition, but Equinor is busy reminding everyone that oil and gas are still paying the bills.
The Norwegian major plans to sharply increase its international oil and gas production by 2030, pushing overseas output above 900,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), up from roughly 730,000 boepd in 2025, Equinor’s head of foreign operations told Reuters this week. That is a more than 20% jump at a time when many European peers are doing their best to sound apologetic about hydrocarbons.
The strategy is simple: keep Norway steady, grow everywhere else.
After selling off mature and declining assets, Equinor now operates in just seven countries outside Norway, down from a dozen a few years ago. Fewer countries, bigger barrels. The growth engine is already visible. Brazil’s Bacalhau field, which started producing last fall, is ramping up toward 220,000 barrels per day (bpd) by late 2026. Raia follows in 2028. In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the Sparta project operated by Shell adds more volume, while the Adura joint venture in the UK quietly fattens the gas portfolio.
Canada is next. Bay du Nord, one of the country’s largest planned offshore oil projects, is nearing a key investment decision after Equinor reworked the development to cut costs. The initial phase alone targets more than 400 million barrels. That is not a side project.
Equinor is also reopening talks on LNG in Tanzania, political risk and all. Beyond 2030, exploration is back on the menu in Brazil, Angola, and the U.S. Gulf, with Namibia and the eastern Mediterranean waiting in the wings.
This international push matters because Equinor has recently tightened shareholder returns. Buybacks were slashed for 2026 as oil prices softened and gas markets cooled. If cash is tighter, barrels matter more.
It also fits neatly with Norway’s bigger problem. Domestic output is expected to peak and drift lower later this decade unless new discoveries keep coming. Equinor’s answer is not to retreat, but to move outward.
For all the talk of peak demand and electrification, this looks like a company betting that oil and gas will still be wanted, traded, and monetized well past 2030. That may not sound fashionable in Europe, but it sure does sound profitable.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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