OSLO, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Norway’s Equinor posted its strongest quarterly result in nine years on Wednesday, driven by a global energy supply crunch that pushed Europe’s natural gas prices to all-time highs. Adjusted earnings before tax rose to $9.77 billion in the July-September quarter from $780 million in the same period a year ago, exceeding the $8.4 billion predicted in a poll of 25 analysts compiled by Equinor. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis and Nora Buli, editing by Terje Solsvik)