Before the war, Russia’s Gazprom provided about 60% of Germany’s gas consumption. The stoppage of supplies and explosions at the Nord Streams, the shutdown of a number of industrial production and the savings that the Germans and other residents of the EU countries were forced to resort to forced Russian propagandists to shower them with ridicule.
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As a result, Germany has learned to do without Russian gas, and the same 60% of its supplies are now provided by the democratic country of Norway, writes The Moscow Times.
The largest gas producer in Europe, Norway became Germany’s main supplier immediately after the departure of Gazprom. Since then, the parties have entered into several more agreements
This week, German state-owned energy company Sefe and Norway’s Equinor announced a 50 billion euro contract to supply about a third of Germany’s industrial gas demand. As a result, Norway’s share will reach 60%, Reuters notes.
True, such a strong dependence on one supplier carries risks, although not the same as those associated with Russia and the actions of Gazprom. Shared political views between Germany and Norway reduce the likelihood of disruptions, but do not guarantee technical problems, given the massive network of pipelines connecting Norway to the continent, said Eurasia Group analyst Henning Gleistein. However, the branching of the network gives reliability, he states: if necessary, gas can be sent through another branch.
Additional sources of imports were supplies of liquefied gas. Germany, in particular, has entered into long-term contracts with the American Conoco Phillips and Venture Global. It has also reduced consumption, although its industry still relies heavily on gas supplies for electricity and gas as a raw material.
As a result, Germany’s average monthly gas imports have fallen by more than 25% this year compared to last year. And in the future, as part of the green transition, the Germans plan to further reduce its consumption. The agreement between Sefe and Equinor provides for the replacement of gas with hydrogen from 2029.
Meanwhile, the gas price in Europe (Dutch TTF futures) is now around 34 euros/MWh. This is 10 times less than in August 2022, when it exceeded 340 euros (or about 3 thousand 600 euros per 1 thousand cubic meters). Then Dmitry Medvedev promised Europe gas at 5 thousand euros per 1 thousand cubic meters. m, but immediately after his statement the price went down.
This fall, the EU filled its gas storage facilities well ahead of schedule. With the beginning of the heating season, reserves decreased, but not much; now they have 87.6% gas.
Source: Racurs
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