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Norway plans to maintain its currently high gas production levels until the end of the decade as Europe plans to reduce Russian imports, its energy minister said on Tuesday.
The Nordic country is now Europe’s biggest supplier of gas, according to Refinitiv Eikon data, overtaking Russia, which has cut back on its gas deliveries.
“I expect that we can maintain the production levels we are at now until 2030,” Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Aasland told Reuters in an interview.
“We see that there are projects and also plans for development and operation coming now that can help maintain the high gas volumes going forward,” he said.
Norway is expected to produce some 122 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas this year, according to official forecasts made in May, an increase of 8 percent from 2021, possibly beating a record set five years ago.
The minister said he was also more confident about the long-term demand for Norwegian gas in Europe after the non-EU member and the EU signed an agreement in June to enhance gas imports from the Norwegian continental shelf.
“This is an important message to get from the EU,” Aasland said.
Norway has already responded to higher demand from Europe by diverting more gas for exports instead of injecting it back into the ground to boost crude oil production.
The price of European gas has almost tripled this year, and repeatedly hitting new records. Still, Norway does not plan to sell gas at below market price, as some analysts and media have proposed.
“In principle, the market is predictable. When there is scarcity, prices are high. That also contributes to increasing production and steers the gas to the markets that need it most,” Aasland said.
“To disturb the market and make… rules that look good right now could contribute to ruining some of the ground for building stability and trust over time.”
Norway’s largest oil and gas producer, majority state-owned Equinor, aims to boost investments in renewable energy and low-carbon technologies to become a “broad energy” company.
The company however has said that it would step up exploration for new resources to meet demand in Europe for Norwegian hydrocarbons.
