Europe Seeks Gas from Norway, U.S.
Gas prices hit a record high in Europe this week—and the continent, seeking to wean itself from Russian energy, is turning increasingly to Norway and the U.S. to meet power demand, according to POLITICO Pro.
What’s going on: “The European Commission wants the bloc to end its reliance on Russian gas as fast as possible following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine six months ago.”
- Russia, which has been cutting gas deliveries to Europe, has historically been the largest gas supplier to the EU. This week, however, Norway has earned the top spot.
- “Norway’s gas export revenues came to €13 billion in July, four times more than for the same month last year.”
Why it’s important: As high summer temperatures increase power demand and the electricity generated by wind, hydro and nuclear dips, utilities are depending more on gas for their current needs and to fill storage containers for the coming winter.
- “Russia, which previously met about 40% of Europe’s gas needs, has cut flows citing equipment issues, while Berlin says Moscow wants to ‘blackmail’ Europe,” Nasdaq reports.
- “Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Norway’s energy ministry approved production license increases on several major gas fields, but warned the amounts were close to the ceiling of how much could be extracted,” according to POLITICO.
LNG: Also this week, “German energy companies also signed a memorandum of understanding with the government to keep two floating liquefied natural gas terminals fully supplied until March 2024. The two plants will supply about a fifth of German demand when they go online at the end of the year,” POLITICO reports.
- German and U.S. policymakers must prioritize new energy projects, such as the 25 that are set for installation across Europe in the coming years, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.
The NAM’s take: “America is able to deliver remarkably cleaner energy to Europe than Russian shipped gas,” said NAM Director of Energy and Resources Policy Chris Morris.
- “But the U.S. should take heed of the EU’s terrible energy crisis and ensure that we focus on growing diverse domestic and international sources of energy to strengthen our energy security and decrease reliance on foreign adversaries.”