Norway, which became Europe’s biggest supplier of natural gas after Russia cut off supplies to several countries, says it will work with the European Union to keep natural gas prices under control, Reuters reported.
The EU is facing a major crisis caused by natural gas cuts and shutdowns announced by Gazprom, a situation that has led to an unprecedented wave of inflation in the EU bloc and exploding energy bills.
Norway is expected to produce about 122 billion cubic meters of natural gas this year, up 8 percent from 2021, as Norwegian companies ramped up production to meet demand.
“Current instability is not in the interests of Norway. I would prefer that these prices stabilize, preferably at a lower level,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Haar Stere said earlier on Thursday.
Norway’s prime minister also said his government had held talks with energy companies, saying they were ready to sign new supply contracts but needed to know in advance who the customers would be.
“At current price levels, most private players are taking too much risk,” says Oyvind Eriksen, chairman of Aker BP, Norway’s second-largest natural gas producer.
“So it’s partly a matter of pricing mechanisms and partly about how states and companies can work together to address this very serious situation,” he added, adding that negotiations will continue until a solution is found.
Norway and the EU will cooperate on natural gas prices
Equinor EQNR.OL, Norway’s biggest gas producer, called Thursday’s meeting with the government “useful” and said the talks with the government in Oslo were important to solving Europe’s energy crisis.
He said that Equinor sold about half of its gas under bilateral contracts and the other half on the spot market.
EU energy ministers will try to approve new measures to lower gas and electricity prices at a summit on September 30. They asked Norway, a non-EU country, to help the EU.
Norway and Brussels agreed on Wednesday to form a joint working group on the matter.
However, Prime Minister Stere reiterated that capping gas prices, as suggested by some European buyers, could have a negative impact on supply and would be a “bad choice”.
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Source: Hot News RO
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