Norway to Supply Gas to Germany: 10-Year Contract Signed
Germany's state-owned energy company Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE) and Norway's Equinor have signed a long-term agreement to export Norwegian natural gas to Germany, the Norwegian company's press service reports.
Equinor promises to provide 111 terawatt-hours (about 10 billion cubic metres) of natural gas per year from 1 January 2024 to 2034, with an option to extend for another 5 years. The annual supply should cover about a third of Germany's industrial natural gas needs.
"This is a response to Europe's need for long-term, reliable energy supply and a viable path to large-scale decarbonisation," says Equinor CEO Anders Opedal.
The five-year option is for a total of 319 terawatt-hours (about 29 billion cubic metres) over this period. The companies have also signed a non-binding letter of intent, which stipulates that Germany's SEFE will become a long-term buyer of giant volumes of low-carbon hydrogen from Equinor, starting in 2029 and continuing until 2060.
The agreements were signed by Equinor CEO Anders Opedal and SEFE CEO Dr. Egbert Laege in Berlin on 19 December 2023. The history of cooperation between Equinor and Germany dates back to 1977.
As noted, this is one of Equinor's largest deals since 1986.
As a reminder, after the second phase of the EU oil embargo came into force, Germany has been importing almost no Russian oil.
At the beginning of the year, the German Ministry of Economy stated that Germany was well prepared for the end of oil imports from Russia and no longer depended on it.
However, in September, journalists of the German newspaper Spiegel found out that Germany continues to import large quantities of Russian oil through India. Imports of petroleum products to Germany from India increased more than twelvefold in the first seven months of 2023 compared to the same period last year. According to the UN, India, in turn, purchases large volumes of crude oil from Russia.
Oil prices rose on 19 December as attacks by Yemeni Houthi militants linked to Iran on ships in the Red Sea disrupted maritime trade and forced companies to re-route vessels.