Equinor ASA reined in its share buyback after fourth-quarter profit missed analyst estimates amid a drop in oil and gas prices.
The Norwegian energy giant will repurchase as much as $1.5 billion of shares this year, down from $5 billion in 2025, the company said Wednesday. Profit slumped by almost a third year-on-year.
Equinor was among many oil and gas producers to funnel surplus cash to shareholders after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine drove up energy prices, generating massive profits for the industry. Some companies are now seeking to scale back payouts after the markets weakened amid plentiful supplies.
“We are coming out of a supercycle in natural gas,” Equinor Chief Financial Officer Torgrim Reitan said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “This is the first year where we are normalized, where we have to manage within our means and this is a normal level.”
Adjusted operating income after tax dropped to $1.55 billion, falling short of the $1.59 billion average estimate.
Equinor is the first of Europe’s major energy companies to report quarterly numbers, and the results may set the tone for the earnings season. Oil closed out the year with its steepest annual loss since 2020. European gas also posted a sharp annual decline.
At Equinor, the impact of lower prices was mitigated by a strong quarter for its midstream unit and an increase in oil and gas production at home and abroad, with full-year volumes rising to a record. The company’s new Johan Castberg field and Brazil’s Bacalhau development both contributed to the gain, and Equinor sees output growing about 3% this year.
Equinor’s marketing, midstream and processing, or MMP, business reported adjusted operating income of $678 million following a boost in third-party volumes. The company in October revised its quarterly guidance for the unit, saying it would target earnings of “around $400 million going forward.”
Equinor’s larger European peer Shell Plc reports results on Thursday. Earnings season is already well underway in the US, where oil industry titans Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. both beat profit expectations last week.
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