Norway now supplies 30% of the European Union’s gas.
Photographer: Betty Laura Zapata/BloombergEurope’s Gas Supply Once Again Hinges on One Company
Equinor now plays an outsized role in the ups and downs of the continent’s gas prices
When the world’s top gas traders met in late April at a canal-side hotel on the outskirts of Amsterdam, the atmosphere was business-as-usual: coffee, croissants and wrangling over deals for the upcoming winter. Then came news of a leak at Europe’s biggest liquefied natural gas plant, located above the Arctic circle in Norway.
The problem — discovered during a planned test of the facility’s safety systems — was quickly repaired, but not before it caused a momentary spike in the price of natural gas. Back in the Netherlands, it served as an uncomfortable reminder of the power of a single company, Equinor ASA.