Equinor Eyes Higher Production in 2026 With Strong NCS Portfolio

Equinor ASA EQNR is a Norwegian integrated energy company, primarily involved in exploration and production, with a diversified portfolio of assets and a strong presence in renewables. The company produces oil and gas in several countries, including Norway, Brazil, Angola and the United Kingdom, among others. The Norwegian Continental Shelf ("NCS") is the company’s primary asset, accounting for nearly two-thirds of its equity oil and gas production. In the NCS, Equinor continues to bring new fields online and drive increased recovery from its existing fields to sustain high production levels.

In 2025, the company brought several new fields into production, including Johan Castberg and Halten East, which significantly boosted its production levels. The company made significant progress in its international portfolio, bringing new fields onstream, including the Bacalhau project in Brazil. For full-year 2025, the company achieved record production levels of 2,137 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (mboe/d).

EQNR plans to drill approximately 30 new exploration wells in the NCS in 2026. The company has projected a 3% increase in oil and gas production in 2026, raising production levels even higher than the record growth in 2025. In 2026, the company will execute 16 projects in Norway, most of which will be tiebacks to its existing infrastructure with low breakeven costs, supporting greater returns. EQNR’s focus on increasing production levels is expected to benefit the company, especially in the current commodity-price environment.

Other Integrated Energy Companies With a Diversified Portfolio

Eni S.p.A E is an Italian integrated energy company involved in exploration and production, refining and renewables businesses. The company’s exploration successes were driven by production startups and ramp-ups in Norway, Côte d'Ivoire, Mexico, Congo, Angola, Indonesia and Ghana. In 2025, resource additions from its successful explorations totaled approximately 900 million barrels of oil equivalent. E has a strong focus on energy transition goals, underscored by the expansion of its renewable energy capacity and biofuel operations.

Galp Energia SGPS SA GLPEY is a Portuguese energy company with a presence in upstream, midstream, refining and renewables. The company’s oil exploration efforts have yielded encouraging results, particularly with the Mopane discovery in the Orange Basin, offshore Namibia. In December 2025, the company signed a deal with the French energy giant, TotalEnergies, for a 10% interest in Production Exploration License (“PEL”) 56, where the Venus discovery lies and a 9.4% interest in PEL 91. It exchanged these for a 40% stake in PEL 83, which includes the Mopane discovery.

The company believes that its partnership with Total Energies will allow it to leverage its deepwater expertise and knowledge to de-risk the Mopane discovery and provide a clear development plan for the asset.

EQNR’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of Equinor have risen 58.5% over the past year compared with the 66.2% increase of the composite stocks belonging to the industry.

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From a valuation standpoint, EQNR trades at a trailing 12-month enterprise value to EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) of 3.15X. This is below the broader industry average of 6.37X.

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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EQNR’s 2026 earnings has seen upward revisions over the past 30 days.

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EQNR and E each currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) while GLPEY carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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