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By Nerijus Adomaitis
OSLO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Norway's Equinor posted
record pretax profits for the fourth quarter on Wednesday,
driven by a boom in oil and gas prices and said it will raise
its dividend and increase share buybacks.
Adjusted earnings before tax rose to $15.0 billion in the
October-December quarter from $756 million in the same period a
year ago, exceeding the $13.2 billion predicted in a poll of 23
analysts compiled by Equinor.
CEO Anders Opedal said Equinor enjoyed a free cash flow of
$25 billion last year as a result of "continued improvements and
capital discipline".
"We are capturing value from high prices for gas and liquids
with excellent performance and increased production," he said a
in statement.
The oil and gas industry saw a massive turnaround last year
as markets overcame the pandemic-driven slump of 2020, with the
price of European natural gas quadrupling between January and
December while North Sea crude rose more than 50%.
Majority state-owned Equinor said it would pay a quarterly
dividend of $0.20 per share, up from $0.18 per share paid in the
third quarter, and plans to increase its share buybacks in 2022
to $5 billion from $1.3 billion in 2021.
European oil industry peers have also posted soaring profits
in recent days, with BP promising to increase its share
buybacks and Shell saying it will raise both dividends
and its stock purchases.
Equinor's quarterly petroleum production stood at 2.16
million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the fourth
quarter, up 6% from the same period of 2020.
The company expects its oil and gas production to grow by 2%
in 2022.
Equinor's shares have risen 63% in the last 12 months, more
than double the rise in the European oil and gas index.
(Editing by Terje Solsvik and Gwladys Fouche)
