Natural gas prices are climbing to record highs in Asia and Europe, forcing energy-intensive industries to curb production, adding disruptions to global supply chains of food and other goods, which threatens to inflate consumer prices. Producers of steel, fertiliser, and glass have had to halt or curtail output in Europe and Asia as they are grappling with high energy and raw material costs. The UK has agreed to provide state support to a fertiliser maker because its by-product carbon dioxide is essential for the food industry.
Asia’s strong demand, low global inventories, and reduced supply from Russia have pushed gas prices sharply in the past couple of months. Since the beginning of the year, prices have climbed more than 250% in Europe and about 175% in Asia. Gas prices in the US have doubled since January to a multiple-year high recently. As a result, electricity prices have also increased steeply as many power plants run on gas.
Norway has approved higher gas exports to Europe to alleviate the price pressure. State-owned Equinor on Monday said that it had secured a permit 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.
