Norway goes against the grain of European countries. While most are in favor of a cap on gas imports into the European Union, Oslo takes the opposite position.
“We agree to have an even closer dialogue with the EU in the future on the various proposals that are on the table. We approach discussions with an open mind, but we are skeptical about a maximum price for gas “, Norway’s Prime Minister said on Monday 12 September.
Jonas Gahr Støre spoke in a statement after a telephone interview – the second in a few days – with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Norway, which has largely benefited from the price hike, exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has so far been discreet on the cap issue. Underlining the importance of price as a supply and demand adjustment mechanism, Oslo passes the responsibility to oil groups and recalls that European customers themselves have in the past insisted on spot (variable price) contracts rather than long-term contracts. which give greater visibility. “A maximum price will not change the fundamental problem, which is that there is too little gas in Europe”, esteem Jonas Gahr Støre.
The shadow of being accused of “profiting from war”
Following the war in Ukraine, Norway has recently supplanted Russia as Europe’s main gas supplier thanks to an 8% increase in its deliveries and, above all, a drop in Russian deliveries.
Rising prices and increasing production are helping to fill the Norwegian state’s coffers. Its oil and gas revenues could thus reach 1,500 billion crowns (150 billion euros) in 2022 – and 1,900 billion next year -, breaking the record set last year (830 billion), according to calculations by the Nordea bank. Markets.
“The most important contribution Norway can make in the current situation is to maintain high gas production in the future”, hammered the Norwegian minister of oil and energy, Terje Aasland.
But criticism is emerging at home and abroad, with some fearing the country is seen as a “War profiteer”. “As the war and the resulting power crisis drag on, the money flowing north is proving embarrassing,” the British weekly judged last week The Economist.
Norwegian embassies in several European countries are today concerned about the repercussions that this situation could have on the image of the Nordic kingdom, the Norwegian daily assured on Monday. Naeringsliv of today.
A general ceiling in question
According to Jonas Gahr Støre, the issue of a price cap had not been discussed during his previous meeting with Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday 7 September. The Europeans agreed on this possibility during an extraordinary council of energy ministers organized two days later.
Amid speeches on emergency measures to stem the surge in gas and electricity bills, some ministers spoke of a ceiling on the price of gas imports into the EU. While the European Commission has proposed to set a ceiling on the price of gas from Russia, several states such as Italy note that this represents only 9% of European imports and recommend an upper limit on the price of gas purchased from the EU.
In turn unfavorable to this idea which could push liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers to look elsewhere, the Commission is due to present its draft legislative text this week containing all emergency energy measures.
(With AFP)
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