LNG

July 3 (LNGJ) - Supplies of regasified LNG delivered from the European network of import terminals to the European Union’s gas pipelines system declined by 14.2 percent in the first six months of 2024 compared with the same period last year to around 58.5 billion cubic metres.

   The delivered volumes also dropped by 32 percent in June compared with May 2024. According to gas industry data LNG imports have provided 36 percent of Europe’s natural gas needs this year so far up until the end of June.

The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund belonging to Norway, the main pipeline natural gas supplier to the European Union and an LNG producer, reported a loss of almost $34 billion in the third quarter as all asset classes fell in value.

Norway's Equinor plans to restart production at the Hammerfest liquefaction and export plant in northern Norway on June 8 after it was shut down on May 31 due to a gas leak.

Gassco, the Norwegian pipeline natural gas operator and whose transported volumes are the main competitor to LNG, reported a jump in deliveries to Europe with Germany being the main recipient, though the total fell short of the record deliveries made in 2017.

Gassco said it exported a total of 116.9 billion cubic metres, the equivalent to energy quantity of 1286 terawatt hours, through pipelines to Europe in 2022.

Germany represented the biggest increase by importing 11 percent more natural gas from Norway than in the previous year.

“The year 2022 has, in all clarity, demonstrated how important Norwegian natural gas is and will be as a reliable energy source to Europe.,” said Frode Leversund, Chief Executive of Gassco.

“We usually deliver less gas during the summer months than in winter, but last year’s exports were at near-winter levels all the year through,” explained Leversund.

Norway has by far been Europe’s biggest supplier of natural gas throughout a turbulent 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“At the same time, the demand for more renewable and cleaner energy, at the expense of coal, has rendered European countries more vulnerable,” said CEO Leversund.

“The war in Ukraine has led to an increase in the demand for stable and reliable deliveries of natural gas, and the production of Norwegian gas is vital for meeting Europe’s energy needs,” he added.

Record in 2017

While the Norwegian natural gas exports through pipelines to Europe totalled 116.9 Bcm, the total was less than the 2017 record year when 117.4 Bcm was exported.

Gassco said that the biggest rise in exports in 2022 was to Germany, which received nearly 54.8 Bcm of gas.

“The energy quantity equals more than four times the annual hydroelectric power production in Norway,” noted Gassco.

After Germany, the UK was the second-largest recipient of Norwegian gas with 27.9 Bcm, a drop of 11.7 percent from 2021.

Gassco pipeline deliveries to France at Dunkirk increased by 4.7 percent from the previous year to 17.8 Bcm.

Belgium’s pipeline gas receipts at Zeebrugge rose by 2.6 percent to 15.6 Bcm.

Gassco also started pipeline gas deliveries via Denmark to the Baltic Pipe in September 2022 that now links Poland directly into the gas delivery system between Norway and continental Europe.

“The gas transportation system will also contribute to strengthening the security of supply to both Poland and Denmark and other countries bordering the Baltic Sea,” said Gassco.

Nov 4 (LNGJ) - The Baltic Pipe natural gas pipeline link between Norway and Poland was receiving steady flows of gas via the expanded Nybro gas terminal in Western Jutland in Denmark. The Danish Nybro terminal was receiving 5.8 million cubic metres of gas flows on November 4, according to data from Gassco, the Norwegian state-owned pipelines and terminals operator.

   The Norwegian gas can now be sent to Poland by Denmark’s gas network operator Energinet after the Nybro terminal start-up. The gas in the terminal is supplied from the Norwegian gas pipeline Europipe II in the North Sea. The gas is cleaned and the gas pressure is reduced at the Nybro terminal for onward transportation.

Gassco, the Norwegian pipeline natural gas operator and whose transported volumes are the main competitor to LNG, said it was given the all-clear by Norwegian police after what it described as “an unclear situation” at the Nyhamna gas plant in Western Norway processing supplies for Europe.

July 13 (LNGJ) - Pipeline natural gas flows from Norway to the UK and the European Union were reduced on July 13 after problems at Equinor’s Sleipner gas field cut flow levels to the UK and Belgium. Data from Norwegian pipeline and terminals operator Gassco showed that Norwegian aggregated exit (nomination) flows on July 13, including UK Easington and Zeebrugge in Belgium, were at 256.6 million cubic metres. The flows to Belgium were at 23.9 mcm, about 50 percent below normal, and the Easington flows were also down at 10.4 mcm.

Equinor confirmed that the Hammerfest LNG plant was resuming production in mid-May and would be part of the Norwegian company’s new planned natural gas production surge for Europe.

While imports of liquefied natural gas to the European Union and the UK are increasing in January, none of the natural gas is ending up in Germany because there is no LNG infrastructure even amid various plans spanning almost 10 years.

Gassco, the Norwegian pipeline natural gas operator and one of the main competitors to LNG in Europe, said it transported its third-largest amount of gas to the Continent, though European gas sales, measured by export value, set a solid new record in 2021 as a result of the high prices.