During the two years of war in Ukraine, a Norwegian company has managed to almost completely replace Gazprom in the field of gas supplies to Europe, according to Bloomberg.
The agency writes that due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, energy prices have risen sharply, but now the Norwegian oil and gas giant Equinor has been able to “pick up the crown” that once belonged to Russia's Gazprom.
Norway now supplies 30% of the bloc's gas, while before the invasion of Ukraine, Gazprom supplied about 35% of Europe's gas.
Bloomberg writes that of the more than 109 billion cubic meters of natural gas exported by Norway to Europe last year, about two-thirds were sold by Equinor. Journalists say this would be enough to provide Germany with electricity until 2026.
Irene Rummelhoff, Head of Midstream, Marketing, and Processing at Equinor, said that the company's attractiveness "dramatically changed with the reduced flows from Russia".
Gazprom is suffering losses
After the beginning of the war in Ukraine, European countries began to look for a replacement for Russian gas, although not all of them have completely declined Gazprom's services. At the same time, pipeline gas supplies have significantly decreased. Russia cannot quickly redirect its supplies to other markets.
Earlier, British intelligence reported that Gazprom had suffered record losses over the past 25 years. And Reuters writes that Gazprom may face a "long period of poor performance".