Equinor joins other majors in slashing spending

Norwegian energy company Equinor has decided to reduce operating costs and spending to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak and oil price downturn.

With this move, Equinor is joining a growing number of energy companies, such as Shell and Total, doing similar measures to cope with the current situation.

The main elements of the $3 billion plan include reducing capital expenditure for 2020 to around $8.5 billion from a goal set last month of spending between $10 billion and $11 billion, Equinor said.

The company’s spending on exploration will drop to $1 billion from a planned $ 1.4 billion this year, while operating costs will be slashed by around $ 700 million.

These measures follow the suspension announced this week of Equinor’s $5 billion four-year share buyback program.

Equinor’s head Eldar Sætre said in the statement that the company was now taking actions to “further strengthen its resilience in this situation with the spread of the coronavirus and low commodity prices.”

“We have implemented measures to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus and have so far been able to maintain production at all our fields. Safe operations remain our first priority in this situation,” said Sætre.