On Monday, Norway agreed to raise its natural gas exports to Europe amid a supply crunch that pushed prices to record highs. Benchmark European gas prices have climbed by over 250% since the start of the year due to low storage stocks, high EU carbon prices, surging demand in Asia, reduced gas flows from Russia, nuclear maintenance outages, and low renewable output.
Electricity prices also jumped to all-time highs in some European countries, forcing businesses to slash their operations. At the same time, some fertiliser plants ceased production due to high gas prices. The shutdowns of fertiliser plants also result in a shortage of CO2, which is used in the meat industry as well as beer, cider, and soft drinks production. Some economists warned of a potential food shortage.
Equinor, Europe’s no.2 gas supplier after Russia’s Gazprom, on Monday said that the Norwegian government has allowed it to raise gas exports from the Troll and Oseberg fields by 2 Bcm starting October 1. The increase corresponds to an increase of almost 2% in the country’s pipeline gas exports, Reuters reported.
