Equinor is hardly a household brand in the United Kingdom, but its commentary on market constraints is crucial amid predictions that Europe may face another race to obtain sufficient supply before the winter of 2023-2024.
The CEO of the largest gas supplier to the United Kingdom, Norway’s Equinor, has cautioned that it will be tough to further raise output after increasing output last year to assist fill the vacuum in Europe’s inventories caused by the conflict in Ukraine.
Anders Opedal stated that the continent’s natural gas demand must decrease to compensate for the loss of Russian supply while revealing record-breaking annual profits for the corporation.
Despite being a net exporter of gas during the warmer months of the year, the United Kingdom typically imports 25% of its annual consumption from Norway due to insufficient storage capacity.
Equinor, formerly known as Statoil and majority-owned by the Norwegian government, increased production by 8 percent in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine, when Russia restricted gas deliveries to Europe in response to Western sanctions.
Its efforts, together with continent-wide energy-saving initiatives, have contributed to the lights remaining on so far this winter.
UK’s biggest gas supplier
Among the difficulties of the past few months was the sluggish resumption of production at numerous French nuclear facilities.
The United Kingdom has relied on Norwegian gas supplies during cold spells when the wind has failed to blow, most recently utilizing the Demand Flexibility Service to alleviate pressure during peak hours.
A week ago, gas accounted for almost forty percent of the industry’s power output, according to recent industry statistics.
Europe is preparing to replenish depleted supplies ahead of the upcoming winter, making the chief executive’s statements crucial.
Despite the continent-wide decline in wholesale prices since the end of last summer, prices may increase in the coming months.
Despite more agreements with the United States to increase volumes of liquefied natural gas, the potential for a chilly conclusion to the current winter, storage capacity, and gas availability remain issues.
The record pricing for natural gas enabled Equinor to declare $74.9bn (£61.9bn) in adjusted operational profits for 2022, which was more than quadruple its previous record and $28.7bn (£23.7bn) in net profits.
It reported its results as oil and gas giants BP and Shell faced a local backlash over their gains, with government critics demanding a bigger windfall tax to compensate the public purse for the energy-driven cost of living issue.
Tessa Khan, executive director of the environmental organization Uplift, stated, “While Equinor rakes in these shocking profits, pensioners in the United Kingdom are having their homes broken into by debt collectors or, even worse, having their gas supply cut off because they cannot pay their gas bill.”
She continued, “Equinor has become wealthy off the agony of millions of people in the United Kingdom.”
