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Equinor (EQNR) Awards Wind Vessel Supply Contract to Maersk

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Equinor ASA (EQNR - Free Report) announced that its Empire Offshore Wind joint venture with BP plc (BP - Free Report) awarded a contract to Maersk to supply its new wind installation vessel for the Empire Wind project in New York.

The vessel will be used to install the Vestas 15 megawatt turbines on Empire Wind 1 and 2 offshore wind farms. Equinor is a leading offshore wind energy developer in the United States. Empire Wind 1 and 2 are part of Equinor’s portfolio of offshore wind development projects off the U.S. east coast.

In 2016, Equinor was awarded the Empire Wind lease area, located 15-30 miles southeast of Long Island. Empire Wind involves two developmental stages — Empire Wind 1 and 2. It has a potential generation capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW).

Maersk’s wind installation vessel will be operational by mid-2020s on the Empire offshore wind developments. It will be backed by two innovative tugs and barges, which will deliver the wind turbine parts from the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal to the Empire Wind lease area. The tugs and barges will be developed and operated by Kirby Offshore Wind in accordance with the Jones Act.

The vessel is likely to continue operating when the barges transfer the wind turbine components from the staging port on a regular basis. The latest award will ensure the proper installation of the Empire Wind turbines through a dock-in feeder solution. This will increase safety by reducing the number of offshore lifts.

The Empire Offshore Wind project is expected to generate enough electricity to power more than a million homes in New York. Empire Wind 1 and 2 are the basic components to achieve faster growth in renewables. It will help accomplish Equinor’s goal of installing 12-16 GW of renewables capacity by 2030.

In 2020, BP entered the offshore wind market with a $1.1-billion deal to purchase 50% stakes in two U.S. developments, including Empire Wind, from Equinor. This marked considerable progress toward BP’s energy transition goals. As part of the deal, BP and Equinor decided to form a partnership to develop other offshore wind projects in the United States.

BP already has a significant onshore wind business in the United States, with 1.7 GW of generating capacity. Notably, the company joined the development and construction phases of the Empire Wind project as part of the two companies’ partnership to develop bottom-fixed and floating offshore wind facilities.

Company Profile & Price Performance

Headquartered in Stavanger, Norway, Equinor is one of the leading integrated energy companies in the world.

Shares of EQNR have outperformed the industry in the past six months. The stock has gained 46.6% compared with the industry’s 33.2% growth.

 

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Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Equinor currently carries a Zack Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors interested in the energy sector might look at the following companies that presently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Oasis Petroleum is an independent explorer that engages in the acquisition and development of oil and natural gas resources. As of 2021-end, OAS had a proved reserve base of 250.8 million barrels of oil equivalent in the Williston Basin.

Oasis Petroleum is expected to see an earnings growth of 205% in 2022. OAS currently pays a quarterly dividend of 58.5 cents per share ($2.34 annualized), while it recently completed a $100-million share repurchase program.

Petrobras (PBR - Free Report) is one of the largest publicly-traded Latin America oil companies, dominating Brazil’s oil and gas sector. At the end of 2021, Petrobras had cash and cash equivalents of $10,480 million. Free cash flow for 2021 was up 36.7% year over year to $31,466 million.

Petrobras’ earnings for 2022 are expected to grow 55.5% year over year. In fourth-quarter 2021, PBR generated positive free cash flow for the 27th consecutive quarter, with the metric marginally rising to $7,511 million from $5,684 million recorded in the prior-year period.


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