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Gassco: Norway's gas sales likely to fall short this year of records

Gassco, the operator of Norway's gas transmission system that serves Britain and continental Europe, said on Wednesday that the company expects to export high volumes of gas this year. However, it is unlikely to surpass the record-breaking level of last year.

Norway is Europe's biggest gas supplier after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 2022. It meets over 30% of its consumption. However, volumes vary depending on demand, maintenance, and other issues that affect capacity.

Gassco provided data showing that the total deliveries from January to August were 76.8 billion cubic metres (bcm), which is equivalent to 848.6 Terawatt Hours (TWh). This compares to 80.3 bcm in 2024 for the same time period.

Alfred Skaar Hansen, Gassco's director of system operations, said: "It will be difficult to achieve a record in this year. I believe that it is a goal (too) hard to reach."

Gassco achieved a record in 2024 of 117,6 bcm gas transported throughout its system.

The company has an 8,800 km (5.468 mile) pipeline network that connects Norwegian gas fields with Germany, Belgium France, Britain, and Denmark. Deliveries are usually close to 340 millions cubic metres (mcm).

The Norwegian state-owned firm Gassco said that after extensive annual maintenance, during which deliveries fell to as low as 217mcm in recent weeks, it is expected the Gassco system will deliver with high reliability for the winter season from October 1 to March 31.

Gassco data shows that on Wednesday, the supply nominations for the day stood at 278,8 mcm, and most maintenance works have now been completed.

The capacity at the Kollsnes plant will be temporarily reduced up until 18 October due to an error in the electricity grid that supplies power to the site.

(source: Reuters)