The EU and Norway agreed to intensify cooperation to ensure additional gas supplies from Norway to solve the problem of high energy prices.
This decision was made to compensate for the reduction in supplies from Russia.
This is stated in a joint statement by the Executive Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans and Norwegian Energy Minister Terje Åsland.
According to the report, Norway will increase gas production and supply to EU countries by 8% to 122 billion cubic meters this year. This corresponds to an additional 100 TWh of energy.
The Vice President of the European Commission stressed that the importance of Norwegian oil and gas production for European energy security has increased even more after Russia's unjustified and unprovoked war of conquest against Ukraine. According to him, Norway has significant oil and gas balances, so it can remain a major supplier of to Europe also in the long term after 2030.
The EU imports about a fifth of its gas from Norway, compared to the 40% that the EU received from Russia before the military intervention in Ukraine.
In addition, the EU and the Norwegian government have decided to develop long-term cooperation in the field of renewable marine energy, hydrogen carbon storage, and energy research and development with the aim of developing an even deeper long-term energy partnership.Recall, The EU will temporarily return to using coal-fired power plants to make up for the lack of Russian gas. The representative of the European Commission noted that Europe will temporarily look for alternatives to Russian gas, while the use of coal in the EU does not mean abandoning long-term commitments to climate change.
It is worth noting that the Yermak-McFaul International Working Group on sanctions against the Russian Federation proposes allies to impose an embargo on Russian gas.
