Norway opposes Russian gas price cap — RT Business News
Norway is against the EU’s proposal to set an artificial price cap on Russian natural gas, according to the country’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.
« This could worsen the problem that Europe is already facing, namely gas shortages« Stein Grimsrud, a ministry spokesman, told Izvestia newspaper.
Norway has become a major gas supplier for the EU after Russian flows dwindled due to sanctions and technical issues. The share of gas imported into the bloc from Russia has fallen from 41% to 9% since the start of the year, EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said recently. Norway was once the EU’s second gas supplier, covering around 20% of its needs. This summer, Oslo approved permits to extract gas from seven new offshore fields to increase gas production in 2022 by 8% compared to 2021.
The ministry also confirmed that it plans to supply around 122 billion cubic meters of gas to the EU this year. By comparison, before 2022, Russia supplied about 130 billion cubic meters by pipeline and 20 billion cubic meters as LNG to the block each year.
Some analysts note, however, that Norway does not have the capacity to supply enough gas to the EU to cover the loss of Russian flows.
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EU warns against capping gas prices
« Norway is unable to solve the current energy crisis because a serious expansion of its exports is impossible due to limited reserves. We also note that Norway has increased its profits due to higher gas prices and does not plan to participate in setting a cap on gas prices. Oslo offers its European partners to work on the basis of long-term contracts,the Russian Embassy in Norway told Izvestia.
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