Norway's Equinor ramping up gas exports to Europe

Norwegian state-run energy company Equinor and its partners have been given the green light to increase gas exports from two offshore fields for a year as European supply shortages cause a spike in prices.

Equinor on Monday said the government was allowing a combined 2bn cubic metres (bcm) increase in exports for the gas year starting October 1 from the Troll and Oseberg fields.

The front-month gas price at the Dutch TTF hub, a European benchmark, has more than tripled this year to record levels, driving up power prices as the winter heating season approaches with below-average levels of gas in storage.

The situation is prompting Britain to consider state-backed loans to energy firms and big suppliers to ask for government support to cover the cost of taking on customers from companies that have gone bust.

"The production permits allow us to produce more gas from these two important fields this fall and through the winter. We believe that this is very timely as Europe is facing an unusually tight market for natural gas," said Helge Haugane, Equinor's senior vice-president of gas & power.

"We are working on measures to increase exports from our fields on the Norwegian continental shelf."

The increase in exports, divided equally between Troll and Oseberg, will lift volumes from the fields to 37 bcm and 6 bcm respectively, the company added.

The Norwegian government sets output quotas for Troll and some other major fields to ensure the country is able to maximise its output of crude oil and natural gas over time.

Equinor, TotalEnergies, ConocoPhillips and state-owned energy firm Petoro all have stakes in both fields, while Shell holds a stake in Troll.

To further develop the Troll-area and reinforce the company's ability to secure gas deliveries to Europe in the coming decades, Equinor has recently completed the Troll Phase 3 project.

Recoverable volumes from Troll phase 3, which will produce the Troll West gas cap with industry leading low CO2 emissions, are estimated at as much as 347bn standard cubic metres of gas. Total recoverable gas volume remaining in Troll is estimated to be 715bn standard cubic metres.