Europeans will have to look for an alternative to Russian gas not in Norway, but elsewhere. The second gas supplier to the European Union after Russia, the country is already producing at full capacity and cannot increase its supplies, its Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stere did echo on Tuesday.
Thanks to its huge offshore fields, the Scandinavian kingdom covers about 20% of Europe’s natural gas needs, compared to 45% for Russia, a country on which the EU now wants to reduce its dependence in light of the military offensive in Ukraine.
Production cannot change “from one day to the next”.
“Norway is working to its limits. The government is in contact with the companies responsible for the production and export of gas pipelines, and today they are delivering gas at maximum capacity,” Jonas Gahr Store explained. “We cannot decide to increase from one day to the next because (production) is at its maximum at existing fields,” he added during a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who is visiting Oslo.
The pair discussed energy ties between their countries as the EU seeks to cut Russian gas imports by two-thirds. The construction of the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline between Norway and Poland through Denmark is nearing completion. Completed “by the end of the year, in October or November”, according to Mateusz Morawiecki, it will allow transporting 10 billion m3 of Norwegian gas to Poland annually, which is enough to cover half of its consumption.
“Today we know very well that we must be independent of Russian oil and gas, and therefore I call on the European Commission and our other Western European colleagues to draw up a roadmap to achieve the desired goal,” the Polish Prime Minister said.
According to the European leader, the EU can completely do without Russian gas “well before 2030”. The United States announced on Tuesday a ban on the import of Russian hydrocarbons, and the UK decided to stop importing Russian energy resources until the end of 2022.