Equinor fourth-quarter profit beats forecast amid oilfield startup

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's Equinor reported a smaller-than-expected drop in fourth-quarter core operating profits on Thursday as the startup of a major new oilfield partly mitigated the impact from weak European gas markets.The Oslo-listed company's adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell to $3.55 billion (£2.7 billion)in the fourth quarter from $4.39 billion in the same period of 2018. A poll of 25 analysts compiled by Equinor had forecast adjusted EBIT of $3.37 billion.The..