Equinor ASA

Good morning and welcome to the presentation of the results for the fourth quarter and 2025. In addition, the head of the company will give an update on the company's priorities for the next few years. My name is Sissel Rinde and I am information director at Equinor. As usual, we stand strong with both the head of the board, Anders Oppedal, and the financial director, Tore Grim Reitan. It is also very nice that many of you are following us digitally. For those of you in this room, it is important to know that as soon as the fire alarm goes off, we will go out together the same way you came in. We will follow you, we will go out on the spot, and we will spread out and wait for more information there. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions in the plenum. Because Anders and Torgrim will prepare for the analytics conference later, we have limited time. I encourage everyone to ask as many questions as possible in the plenum. We must then prioritize where we have extra time, if we can take one-to-one interviews. And then I remind everyone that you must use the microphones on the desks and press the button when you ask questions, because then also those who follow us digitally can hear the questions. So with that, I would like to welcome Anders up on stage.

Thank you very much, Sissel, and good morning everyone. It's nice to see you again, and welcome to those of you who are watching the video. Today I would like to present our results for the fourth quarter and 2025. It is a year with strong deliveries from Equinor. In addition, as Sissel mentioned, I would like to give an update on our priorities for the coming years. 2025 was a year with increased geopolitical tensions, something that to the highest degree affected the energy markets. Both companies and authorities are now putting more emphasis on energy security and competitiveness, and this is also leading to our investments. Large industrial projects that will produce energy for many years need favorable framework conditions. This has signified the development of the industry in Norway. Stability is also absolutely necessary in the future. And we look forward to the government coming up with a Petroleum report that can set the framework for the next 10 years. At the same time, we see increased political risk in our industry. Last this week at Hammerfest LNG. Snow White Future is an important industrial project for Norway. The project has been given net capacity for several years. And we and our partners have invested billions of dollars on that basis. We think the proposal that is presented is wrong and in conflict with Norwegian law. This creates uncertainty for everyone who works on and with Melkøya, but also for everyone who makes investments based on contracts in Norway and for Europe that needs energy. I remind you that around 5% of Norway's gas exports come from Melkøya. The development around Melkøya creates uncertainty for our investments in the future, also beyond Snowvit Future. Today I have three main objectives for our owners. First, I will show how clear strategic priorities control capital allocation for 2026 and 2027, and position us for increased value creation. Then we will present an updated strategy towards 2030, which we will return to in June. Secondly, We take steps to strengthen free content. It makes us even more robust for low prices, and allows us to maintain a strong balance in restless times. Finally, we have an attractive portfolio that gives production growth both in Norway and internationally. In total, we take action to further strengthen competitiveness and competitiveness. This way, we become more robust in today's market and can then take advantage of market swings. The oil price is supported for some time by the geopolitical uncertainty we see, but we are prepared that a strong supply side and moderate demand growth will put pressure on the oil price in the short term. Both in Europe and the USA, the cold weather has driven up demand for gas and reduced LNG exports from the USA. Lagerfølgingen i Europa er nå rundt 40%. Vi forventer fortsatt markedsvingninger framover, og at mer LNG vil komme inn i markedet. Men før jeg går videre, så ønsker jeg som alltid å si noe om det som er aller viktigast for oss, som er sikkerhet. Even if our safety trend is going in the right direction, we still have serious events, and we have to work to get better. In September, a family lost one of their loved ones, our colleague, during a lift operation in Mongstad. Accidents like this are the worst that can happen. Our security results for 2025 reflect many years of improvement work from all our employees and together with our suppliers. But we are not good enough before we know that everyone comes home safely from work every single day. In 2025, we had record-high production. Never in the history of the company have we produced so much. This is the result of good operation, new burns on existing fields, and the fact that we have put important projects into production. Johan Kasberg opens a new region in Barentshavet, and Bacalao strengthens our position in Brazil. We will deliver a 14.5% discount on capital in 2025, and a cash flow tax of 18 billion dollars. The capital distribution for our investors is in line with what we said last year, 9 billion dollars. In relation to our plans, we invested 13.1 billion dollars last year. For 2035, we will pay over... For 2025, we will pay over 280 billion in tax, exchange and return to the Norwegian state. For the fourth quarter, we will deliver an adjusted operating result before tax of 6.2 billion dollars. The net result will be 1.3 billion dollars, mainly due to lower prices. As I said, we had record-high production in 2025. For the quarter, production increased by 6% compared to the same quarter last year. We produced 5.7 terawatt-hours of power last year, and renewable production increased by 25% throughout the year, 42% in the quarter. In 2025, we received two stop orders for Empire Wind. We believe that both are clearly fair, and the first was lifted in May. The second came just before Christmas, but work could be resumed after a medium-term delay in January. Despite the challenges, the project is still on the road and 60% finished. We have installed all monopiles, transformed the station offshore and almost 300 km with underwater cables. The total investment for Empire Wind is now expected to be around 7.5 billion dollars. The project has a 25-year fixed price contract at 155 dollars per megawatt hour. Tax credits and cash flow from operations in 2027 and 2028 cover remaining investments in the project. We have continued to optimize our international portfolio. Earlier this week, we announced sales of field shares in Argentina, a transaction worth 1.1 billion dollars. A big milestone last year was the establishment of Adura. Together with Shell, we have created a leading operator on British Hockey. The company will be self-financed, cover the investment on Rosebank and is well positioned for growth. The collaboration turns our portfolio in the UK from negative cash flow due to investments to positive cash flow due to exchange from the company. These transactions follow a pattern. We have sold several positions in the fashion field and invested in more long-term gas production in countries in the USA. In 2025, we had 45% higher gas production in the USA and more than 50% higher prices. That gave 1 billion dollars in cash flow after tax. Very good results. Through these approaches, we have built a more future-oriented portfolio internationally. We focus on attractive core areas. higher free cash flow, good production, lower costs, and a portfolio with low carbon intensity. Let's take a look at the future. I want to talk about our strategic priorities for 2026 and 2027. Not least, how they affect how we invest. The world is changing, but the demand for energy continues to increase. And we are well positioned to contribute to energy security, competitiveness and sustainability. First of all, after more than 50 years at Norsk Sokkel, we have a unique starting point for long-term value creation. And we continue to invest. Norsk Sokkel is still the backbone of the company. We expect increased production also in 2026. The ambition is to ensure that we can have the same production in 2035 as we had in 2020. The future will consist of more, but fewer birds. For them to be profitable, we work with partners, suppliers, authorities and trade unions to change the way we work on Sokkel. We will develop the birds faster than today, become more effective and increase the cast, while at the same time så skal vi bli bedre på sikkerhet. Videre forventer vi en sterk produksjon og kontantstrømsvekst internasjonalt. Vi leiter og bygger ut i nøkkelmarkedet for å bringe nye volymer inn i porteføljen. In the business area of power, we combine renewable portfolios with flexible power production to build an integrated power company and become more competitive. We are value-driven and disciplined both in implementation and capital allocation, and the main focus in 2026 and 2027 will be safe operation and delivering on already sanctioned projects. All this, Norwegian oil and gas, international oil and gas and power, is linked together by our trading company, which contributes to increased value creation. We are also well positioned within low carbon solutions, such as transport and storage of CO2. But these markets are developing slower than expected. In addition to the implementation of Northern Lights and Northern Endurance, we will continue to encourage some of the selected opportunities and markets at low cost. We will be ready to invest when the market develops, the customers are in place and the discount is good enough. From record high production in 2017, In 2025, we expect to increase production even more in 2026. We expect a production growth of around 3% from already record high production. We are also filling our portfolio and have a negligible reserve return of 100% in the last three years. 2025 was a good year in Norway. We made 14 commercial funds that will contribute to future production. We have secured attractive new areas in Norway, Brazil and Angola, and expect to sow around 30 seedlings in 2026 together. We will reduce production costs to $6 per share. We will also continue to deliver a carbon-efficient portfolio, with a CO2 output of 6.3 kg per share, down from 8 kg in 2020. We are taking steps to strengthen the cash flow and become even more robust in the face of a more uncertain market. With lower prices, we expect around 16 billion dollars in cash flow for operation and after-tax in 2026. With flat price predictions, this will increase to 18 billion dollars in 2027. We have strengthened our investment program in meeting with market realities. We reduce investment plans for 2026 and 2027 by around 4 billion dollars. And guide on 13 billion dollar investments for 2026. Reduction comes primarily within power production and low-carbon solutions. This also affects our expectations for net reduction of carbon intensity, which is now adjusted to 5-15% in 2030 and 15-30% in 2035. It is important for me to emphasize that this is a consequence of changes in the market and our business opportunities. We continue to maintain the ambition to reduce by 2030. We will, in the current situation for offshore wind, focus on the implementation of existing projects. We will have a high threshold to commit capital to new offshore wind projects. This includes our ownership in Ørsted. We maintain a stable investment level in oil and gas for 10 billion dollars a year. We will continue to be more effective, including the measures we have made in portfolios, and aim for a 10% reduction in operating costs in 2026, even if we increase production. The measures we are now taking to strengthen the cash flow also contribute to competitive capital distribution. We have set a goal of increasing the output by 2 cents per share. We are continuing this, and this represents an increase of more than 5%. Among the best in the industry. We will continue to buy back for 2026 at 1.5 billion dollars, including the state's share. The first tranche is at 375 million dollars, and it starts tomorrow. So, with the guiding behind me, I'll give the floor back to you, Sissel. We'll take questions from the audience, and I'd also like to have Torgrim on stage to answer questions today.

Thank you. Are you going to have Anders? Welcome up, Tor Grimm. You can stand there. Now I can steer as well as I can from here. And then the first man up here, Lars Tarelsen from Energy Watch. Remember to hold down the button, and then we'll move on. Yes, please.

Thank you. You wrote in the chronicle in E24 yesterday that you do not have a plan B on the dairy industry. If the majority now ends up going against what you want, what do you see as the real alternatives further?

We don't have a plan B, and that's because in project implementation, we usually, before we make an investment decision, look at many different alternatives. We put away some because they are not technically implementable, they are not profitable, And then we end up with the best alternative we can come up with to get approval from either the government or the parliament. We have also done that at Melkøya, and therefore we have put all other alternatives behind us. They are not possible to implement within the time that is required before the production from the snow white field falls due to the fall of pressure. That is why there is no plan B. It is completely normal. Indicating that there are alternatives at Melkøya is wrong to say. Then it is wrong that the parliament is now looking at changing a legally granted concession with returnable power. It is completely new in Norwegian administration. Therefore, there is no alternative but to continue the project as it stands today. We have all the approvals in place. It is done through legal proceedings. And I don't see how the parliament can take a decision that changes the return of water power. Can I follow up?

Yes. Does this clearly mark a difference in what you see as a political risk in Norway?

This is something completely new. Tomorrow, the debate is not only about the electrification of Melkøya, if it is for or against it. Which parties that are for or against electrification are well known. For us, this debate is tomorrow. If it is okay for the law-making association to change the law with a retroactive force, so that benefits and things that are in place can be changed in due time, it will create unpredictability, not only for us and our partners at Hammefest LNG, but for the entire business community. Therefore, the debate that will take place in Storting tomorrow is very important for many in the business community in Norway.

The next question is for Marius Lorentzen from Finansavisen.

Does this mean that you will take this to court as you did in the US, if this bill doesn't come? Or do you think that the State Council, as it is said in Nepal, is allowed to implement this, if the parliament knows it?

Now we have to take things one step at a time. First, the parliament has to debate it, then they have to vote on it, and then there is an invitation to vote, and then the government has to come back in the way they want to come back with, by answering the parliament on this. We will continue the project. And if it were to happen that a legal order would be taken away from us, then we would have to assess what legal rights we have to follow up on that. But it is too early to say now. Now we will first have the Stortingsdebatten tomorrow.

The next question goes to Petter Rydland from Montell.

Can you tell us more about what that means? What is it that is missing?

Now I have Torbjørn here, so you can go ahead.

What we are doing today is an additional strengthening of our situation to be able to handle both low prices and make us even more robust. We take down our investments with 4 billion dollars over 2026 and 2027. So the reductions are mainly linked to marine investment, renewable and low-carbon investment. So that is where the biggest change lies. And that is primarily driven by the fact that We see that the markets and customers linked to the low-carbon investment are actually not there. The society has slowed down, and we want to be a leader, but we are completely dependent on profitable projects and customers and markets that operate. So we have screwed that down. And then we have come to invest, but it is first when this is profitable and good projects. On the sea investment, it is full speed to carry out the projects that we have Thank you very much.

Are there new projects that will be released? Of course.

I think it's important to say that when it comes to these projects, the timing is very important for them to be good. In this portfolio, we have what we call double-digit capital reduction on the investments we have made. If you look away from Empire Wind, which has lower with all the challenges we have seen there. So this is basically good projects, but we have to wait for new projects to be good enough for us to invest.

Next question goes to Nora Buhle in Reuters.

Hi, I would like to go back to the gas market, both in the US and in Europe. You talked about gas prices in Europe being very low, that there has been a little reduced US LNG export during this cold period. But what are your expectations in the future? You say that there will still be a lot of LNG. Can you just say how you see the next quarter or the rest of the year?

First of all, I would say that we are very well positioned, both in the European gas market, where we have the cheapest production and transport costs of everyone operating in the market, and we have a good position in the American gas market, where we have low-cost production, and we have the opportunity to transport gas to the most attractive areas in New York and Toronto. These markets are well positioned in both. We have seen that the increased LNG export in the US has contributed to increased gas prices in the US. This will cause more gas to enter Europe, but we show in our slide deck that if the gas price goes down by one dollar in Europe, it will lead to an increase in the USA. Therefore, we have balanced our exposure between Europe and the USA in a good way. What we see in the short term is what we talked about earlier, that in the short term, the weather and transport of LNG play a decisive role for prices in Europe. Now we see that the cold weather has dropped the warehouse, we see reduced LNG exports in the short term, but in the long term we see an increasing supply of LNG into the market in Europe. And then just a little thumb rule. When a warehouse in Europe drops by 1%, it takes 10 new LNG-loads to fill it back. So then we get to see how the warehouse situation is at the end of this winter. And then we get to see what that means for market prices out over the summer.

before it becomes a tighter market than expected earlier?

We see that there is more LNG coming into the market. We have flat price expectations for gas in the first two years, but towards 2030 we have a downward price expectation. But as I say, we are also balanced by increasing gas prices in the US, and are well balanced in the gas markets in both places.

I have a short question. When it comes to MMP, the results are a lot higher than in guiding. Can you explain what's behind that?

Yes, we can. We have a number of long-term gas contracts, and they are renegotiated from time to time. The result of this is that we have had a good outcome of this price negotiation. And that happened after the consensus was sent out. So the piece is linked to that. Apart from that, it is the result that is expected. It is very happy that we won that. And that was around 300 million dollars in the result. We expect to receive the money in the course of this year. And that is higher than what is recorded in the budget.

What did you say?

This is related to a specific contract, yes.

Okay, thanks. Next question is for Morten Ånestad in Dagens Næringsliv.

If the parliament says no tomorrow, what kind of economic consequences will it have? And number two is the reduction in net carbon intensity. Can you be a little more specific on that? And what kind of consequences will an eventual no also have on that goal?

Yes, thank you. What economic consequences will we have in the end is too early to say. What I can say is that the total investment level will be 20 billion, and we have already committed 15 billion to suppliers on this project. So then you can see what is at risk in this project if it does not get the network connection. This reservoir is now flowing, but in the long run the pressure is too low, so compression is needed, and that is why we need more power. This also creates uncertainties about how long hammer-fired energy and snow-white fields can produce, and this will also have an economic consequence that is too early to say. When it comes to carbon intensity in our own production, Scope 1 and 2, our goal has been to reduce it by 50%, or absolute CO2. That's about 12-13 million of fat, and down to half of that. Hammerfest makes up 850,000 of that, so of course if they fall away as a reduction, it will affect them with a few percentage points. This is in a way that neither Norway nor Equinor knows the ambitions we have set. Remember that the 50% ambition was set in Stortinget based on the tax package.

The next question goes to, no, I give the floor to Marius Lorentzen in Finansavisen. You will have to ask the question, you will have to answer.

The one thing I wondered about was this reduction in OPEX, that is, operating costs. Could you give a little more detail on where that should be taken, given that I'm talking about 10% this year? You mentioned that your views on renewable investments also include Ørsted. Does this mean that this strategic transaction is no longer relevant, or that you do not want to contribute new capital if it were to become relevant?

Now you take the costs first, and then I will take the investments on the sea.

It is extremely important to run a company with low costs. This is about making good money at low prices. We are in a good position. Our cost of delivering gas is 2 dollars in a market priced at 11. We have a unit cost on our production of a little over $6. So at some point it's good, but we have to get better. And we take a powerful grip on costs. So over the last few years we have managed to keep our costs flat. even if we have increased production and even if we have had inflation. So there are several hundred million dollars a year in efficiency that we have taken out. Next year, we say we are going down 10%, even if we are going to grow production by 3%. A few things there. It is driven by the sale of Peregrino in Brazil, and transactions with the source of Dura. So if you adjust for that, then it is a flat underlying cost development. So again, we are going to beat inflation, even if we increase production by 3%. So this is a continuous improvement, and this is driven by tough prioritization, in activities, much lower activity. It is much lower early phase costs. We take down staff costs, and we work very structurally with the costs on Norwegian hockey. And then there is something that we have a little and that is artificial intelligence. Already there, we see that we are able to take out costs. There we see that there is a great potential. So that is is to come, but the fact that we have a large portfolio of projects that we can consistently take out these costs on, means that there is great potential. So this is important, and we continue to take strong steps.

I have two questions. On offshore wind, we have three major projects under implementation. Empire Wind has side arrangements. We have also had delays at Dogebank in the first phase to get all turbines up and running. As we have said very clearly, our priority now is also to have safe operation on the offshore wind projects that are already being produced, and then to implement these three projects that we have on offshore wind. And therefore, while we do that, we have a very high threshold to make new obligations within offshore wind. This also includes transactions by purchase and that type of thing, including Ørsted. That's because we have 6 gigawatts under transfer. Let's do it in a good way now before we take further steps.

Then I give the floor to Halvor Ipeguttu in Nettavisen.

Yes. Let's see. It was 280 billion kroner that was paid to the Norwegian state in the course of the year that went, if I understood it correctly. It's a little bit of a contribution to the state. It's 50,000 kroner per investor, if I'm not mistaken.

You're welcome.

So... You talk a lot about the importance of... First of all, it's a very important contribution, so I don't know if you have any thoughts on that.

This is how the tax model works. It reflects a high strategic ownership that the Norwegian state has in Equinor. And I think all employees in the company are proud of the effort they make, and that they both contribute to creating safe jobs for us and the supplier industry, and at the same time create good income for the community. All of this goes right into including the CO2 tax, all of this goes right into the oil fund, which manages them in a very good way.

You also talk a lot about the importance of predictability to maintain this activity in Norway. Are decisions like the Milkeøya a part of that? Is it the type of thing that threatens the predictability that could affect the tax return payment?

Of course. If you look at Norwegian oil and gas history, it has been characterized by predictability and inter-political actions that have made it safe and good to invest in Norwegian oil and gas. And we have done that, and many others have done that. Norwegian oil and gas stands out as a very competitive oil and gas. You can just go to the other side of the North Sea and see a completely different picture. When I said welcome to the Petro-news report, it is because I can set the framework for the next 10 years, both in terms of search, concession deductions, and how the frameworks around this industry should be in the future. For us it is important to have T-forums, it is important to have new numbered search areas, it is important to be able to identify new search areas, so that we can reach the high level of the Sockeldirektorat. When you have a discussion, In Stortinget, which discusses whether a legal venture should be taken away with returnable power, it is a bit different from what many say, that they want to contribute to the sustainability of the oil and gas industry. Therefore, we are quite clear about this. This is wrong. We also think it would be fair to carry out such a venture.

One more question. You talked about reducing costs by 10%, and you have come down a lot in the last 10 years. But at the same time, the costs in society, especially in public, have increased significantly. What do you get from it, for example, road builders and those who build government blocks?

No, we have not been immune to these cost increases. We see cost increases in all parts of our investment portfolio. One of the reasons why we are now focusing on the implementation of offshore wind on the portfolio we have, is that we see that the cost of implementing new offshore wind projects now is much higher than it was five years ago. We have seen this in all parts of our investment portfolio. We work actively to ensure that we choose the right concepts, the concepts that make us most cost-effective, that our projects have as low a zero-point price as possible, and are robust and able to withstand swings in the market. What Togrim is talking about is our OPEX costs, our operating costs, which in recent years where the organization has done a great job, managed to keep them flat in spite of the cost growth. We see the same picture as road builders and everyone else, but we have kept the OPEX and operating costs flat in spite of increasing production. Now we have to work further to ensure that we also manage to get the costs down in our investment portfolio.

The next question is from Petter Udland in Montell.

As a company, we have made contact with all political parties, and we do that at Yamli. I have meetings with the leaders of the political parties, and we give facts on how we see things. So we have been clear and clear on how we see this matter when it comes to Hammefest LNG. In the same way, we also say the need for stable framework conditions, increased search areas, TFO rounds and so on. It is our job to say what we think is right for our business and for our company. And then of course it is the politicians who, last but not least, put the framework conditions forward, but hopefully do not change them afterwards.

Thank you.

Since I have a question about international production, then I'll ask it in English. You mentioned that you expect a strong growth in production and cash flows from your international operations. Could you elaborate perhaps on this a little bit more? and touch upon a major projects or where do you expect that production to increase from? That's one question, I have another one.

okay so let me start with brazil we are we just started the bacalao project we are now ramping up this production by adding more production wells by end of this quarter we will have three production wells and one gas injector in in in operation so you will see that ramp up that will create the the increased production. If you go a little bit more towards 2030, we will have the Raya project in Brazil coming on stream. We will have the Sparta project in the Gulf of Mexico on stream. With Rosebank, the Ardura project, new integrated jv our production will increase by 40 000 barrels a day so this so that's the some of the elements for for this in addition there is a kind of new wealth coming on stream uh in some of the uh of the countries that we also uh our oppression but mainly uh u.s um the Brazil and UK. And of course, US onshore is also, we have an increase and we have very high stable production there.

Are you looking to acquire more perhaps gas producing acreage in the US then?

As I said in my speech, we have focused over the last five years to look at kind of fields in decline and see if we are able to reinvest the consideration from those fields into growth in Brazil, in US, onshore, etc. This consideration will be used from the corporate to find the best possible opportunities worldwide where to invest this. And as you have seen, we have been opportunistic both in kind of divestment and also acquisition. I'm not going to announce any future actions, but we are active in the market.

I give the floor to Lars Tarelsen from Energywatch.

A question about the Barentshavet. Terje Årsland mentioned a little while ago that it may be relevant with a gas pipeline from there to Europe. For your part, what is needed for such an investment, and what kind of timeline do you see as relevant?

We have been very clear about this for a very long time. What needs to be done is more resources. That's why we have a search program now, and P.T. there is nothing to suggest that we see those resources. Discussing a mess before we have those resources is a little early. So now we have focus on that. Should it be the case that there are large resources that go beyond what an electrified milky way will be able to produce, then we must also have long gas agreements with Europe. But that type of discussion is probably out of time. Now we are focused on identifying resources, and we have no basis for PT to say anything more about an increased resource basis.

Thank you. The next question is from Roa Valdehaug in E24.

Yes, I think the market is much less offensive when it comes to Ørsted in the future. Do you still have an active desire to get a place in the board after the general assembly on April 9th, or have you pushed back on that desire?

Vi har ingen endring i vår forhold til Ørsted. Vi har det samme ønsket. Vi mener at det som skjer i industrien nå styrker vår oppfatning av at samarbeid og konsolidering generelt i industrien vil være viktig framover for å sikre at den kan bygge ut den type felt i framtiden til en lågere kostnad og med høyere avkastning.

Do you get the desire fulfilled? You know that now. It's not long until the end of the meeting, so you know. Do you get the desire fulfilled now?

We'll see when the time comes.

Then I give the floor to Morten Ånestad in Dagens Næringsliv.

As you said in Fjord, the capital market day is linked to the production of Norwegian sugar, or in good words, ambition, in 2035. Doesn't that lead to the scheme you are setting up?

2025 was a good year. We had 14 funds, which gives 125 million FAT in increased resource access. And what we are focusing on now is to change the way we work at Norsockel. We have now gone through all our work processes for North Hockel and seen how we develop fields, how we develop subsea fields. We have updated these work processes. We reorganize how we work at North Hockel to become even more effective. If we want to achieve the ambition we set for 2035, we have to find more, and we have to make the findings faster, and put them faster into practice. These are the steps we are taking now. Based on the findings we made last year, and based on already two findings this year, we will show even more clearly in June, the progression towards this, and not least also the search portfolio of our future. and how we change the way we work at Norshåkkel.

I say that you are ahead of schedule.

We work, as Kjetil Hove says, hard every single day to get ahead of schedule. But let's take a round of time in June.

The last question is from Ina Sten Andersen from Tekniske Ukbladet.

Thank you. You mentioned that the milking process would create uncertainty for investments without or further from Snow White Future. Are you thinking of some specific projects, and is there possibly some among these projects, given that it also requires powerful land there?

I think in general, and then of course a Wisting project will also come into the general description. I'm not just talking about oil and gas projects, I'm actually talking about other projects in mainland Norway as well. And we see that both LO and NO are also concerned about that. And that is why it is so important that it is clear what we mean about us making possible acquisitions that have feedback.

Håvard Høge, E24, wanted to ask the last question.

I was just wondering, you cut a part of the investment. Why is it still necessary to cut so much of the buyback of your own shares? Can you just explain? 70% cut in one year. Can you just explain why that was necessary?

Yes, what we have focused on when it comes to capital distribution is of course, first and foremost, the exchange rate. And there we have been stable and said that we will increase it by 2 cents per, the quarterly exchange rate, 2 cents per year, and we do that exactly as predicted. And that gives 5%, which we actually mean industry leaders. Then we come out of what you call a super cycle, Torgrim, or we have had a sugar rush, based on the extraordinary returns in 2021 and forward to 2024. Therefore, we have, based on a negative yield level, over time balanced the balance to get a healthy positive yield level. So what is happening this year, as we have done, is something we have guided the market on over a long time. So for us it is important to have a stable increase in our content exchange. have a strong balance, have a healthy yield, and at the same time have a competitive distribution that includes share buyback.

Yes, there was one short question from Reuters, then we will conclude.

Last question. On Johan Sverdrup, very quickly to check, you previously said you expected Sverdrup to come off plateau this year. Could you be more specific? When do you expect production to start declining? First half, second half? Thank you.

Yeah. First of all, I think the organization over many, many years have done a fantastic work on Johan Svärdrup and production. I think we have had a decline question for many, many years and we have been able to push it out in time. This year, we anticipate a decline more than 10%, but well below 20% in decline. But I can assure you, our fantastic organization on Johan Sverdrup, they work very hard every day to produce as much as possible. They were able to postpone the decline for a long time, and they're working now to reduce the decline as much as possible by optimizing the production all the time, drilling new wells, placement of wells, retrofitting old wells, and so on. So there will be a decline, more than 10, much less than 20% this year. That's what we anticipate.

We'll wrap up the press conference. Thank you for your engagement, and I wish you all a nice day.