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Our strategy

The world’s energy systems are in transition to meet the challenge of climate change. We have a strong financial position and a solid balance sheet, which will enable us to seize opportunities provided by the energy transition. Despite current turbulence, our strategic beliefs — the foundation of our strategy — remain firm.

Our strategy

Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time. The world’s energy systems are in rapid transition to meet the challenge. The journey towards net zero creates new industrial opportunities, and Equinor is ready to seize them.

Our strategic beliefs

As we transform our company, we must strike the right balance between being a safe and reliable provider of energy and generating cash flow to enable the energy transition, while supporting our purpose of providing energy and progress to society and continuing to be an attractive investment for our shareholders.

  • Creating value through the energy transition

  • Net-zero ambition gives rise to new industrial opportunities

  • Technological excellence and innovation will define winners

  • Emerging market dynamics put margins under pressure

  • Creating value through the energy transition

    Fast, structural changes can create new localised business models and offer new ways for consumers to access energy. Oil and gas will stay in our long-term energy mix, but only the most robust upstream projects can be expected to be developed, and carbon considerations will continue to influence all our portfolio choices. For renewables and low carbon solutions, close collaboration with customers, regulators and industry will be key to develop new markets and lay the foundation for future value creation.

  • Net-zero ambition gives rise to new industrial opportunities

    Climate change and the energy transition have become mainstream concerns for governments, societies and investors. Therefore, functioning markets for low carbon solutions will emerge and new opportunities will arise for developers of these solutions. As policy and regulations shape energy markets, the social licence to operate and the ability to run a profitable business will be closely tied to how companies act on their net-zero ambitions.

  • Technological excellence and innovation will define winners

    As the magnitude and speed of change intensify, technology, digitisation and innovation will be key enablers. New ways of working will evolve. We will continue to build on our existing competence and experience and develop capabilities in new areas. A culture of innovation, learning and empowerment is needed to stay competitive.

  • Emerging market dynamics put margins under pressure

    Worldwide energy demand is expected to grow in the short to medium term. However, an abundance of energy from intermittent sources could lead to an increased volatility in energy prices, exposing the industry to new competition and increasing the pressure on margins. The energy landscape is transforming, with innovative technologies, new customers, new competitors, and new ways of creating value.

Our strategic pillars – embedded in everything we do

  • Always safe

    • Safeguarding our people
    • Protecting our assets
    • Committed to a just transition
  • High value

    • Competitive at all times
    • Value creation through the transition
  • Low carbon

    • Reducing own emissions
    • Increasing investments in renewables and low carbon solutions

Always safe, high value, and low carbon will continue to guide our business.

Always Safe
Safety is our top priority and the core of our licence to operate. To us, this means safety for our people, the environment and the societies in which we operate. We work hard to reduce risk and avoid incidents and injuries, both among our own employees and those of our suppliers. We shall respect human rights and support diversity, equality and inclusiveness in all our operations.

High value
Competitive performance and efficiency improvements will remain a priority. Our portfolio is resilient to low prices, has fast return on investments and world-class breakevens. We are growing cash flow from its international portfolio, making it more robust against lower prices. Through our leading positions in the offshore wind market and low-carbon solutions, we are building a pipeline of future projects within offshore and onshore renewables, CCS and hydrogen. We are utilising our trading and midstream capabilities to optimise the portfolio of commodities that we provide to our customers, together with new products and services from low-carbon solutions.

Low carbon
Our long-term ambition is to become a net zero company by 2050. This ambition is supported by our Energy transition plan and is backed by actions such as: Reducing emissions from our oil and gas operations, increasing renewables capacity, establishing value chains in CCS and hydrogen, increasing the share of non-combusted products from hydrocarbons, and using high-quality carbon sinks. In the longer term, a decline in oil and gas production will also drive reductions in net carbon intensity towards net zero in 2050.

How we will get there – our strategic focus areas

  • Optimised oil and gas portfolio

    We expect our oil and gas portfolio to continue to provide strong free cash flow for many years. Equinor will pursue activities where we have the competence, experience, scale, and an overall competitive advantage to secure a leadership position.

  • High-value growth in renewables

    We are focusing on high-value growth in renewables, both onshore and offshore, aiming to deliver above 65 TWh from renewables power generation by 2035.

  • New market opportunities in low-carbon solutions

    We are actively contributing to maturing CCS and hydrogen markets, aiming for a market share of 25% for storage and 10% for hydrogen by 2030 in Europe.