Norway's gas exports to Europe hit a new high over the summer, with 36.8 billion cubic meters of gas exported during the period of May to August this year, the country's gas system operator Gassco announced Friday.
'Never before has Norway delivered such high summer deliveries to Europe,' Gassco said in a press release, adding the volume exported over the four months was slightly above the amount exported during the same period in 2017, which it said was a record year for gas exports.
According to the statement, exports to Germany through the Emden reception terminal was a strong contributor to the high deliveries over the summer. The new terminal was put into operation in 2016.
'The basis for the high deliveries is, of course, that Norwegian gas is in demand in Europe as a safe and reliable source of energy. The [Norwegian] shelf has delivered more volumes than before, and in addition, the transport system has handled the increased volumes well, ' said Frode Leversund, CEO of Gassco.
The gas operator said that more gas, usually, is exported in winter due to increased heating demand, but in summer the volumes were almost normal winter levels.
'It is too early to say exactly where we are coming this year, but we expect a new, good year, about the same level as last year's record,' he added.
Gassco said, in 2017, it transported 117.4 billion cubic meters of gas through the pipeline system from Norway to Europe, which was 'clearly the highest export volume' in the past 40 years, and 'nine times the energy of the annual Norwegian hydropower production'.
Later in the year, Gassco expects the first gas to come through the new Polarled pipeline from the Aasta Hansteen field to the Nyhamna processing plant in More og Romsdal -- one of the country's eighteen administrative counties , opening a new gas region in the Norwegian Sea.
Owned by the Polarled Joint Venture, the 482-km-long Polarled will become the first gas pipeline on the Norwegian continental shelf that crosses the polar circle, according to the statement.
'With Polarled, we have a full gas motorway from the Norwegian Sea to Europe, and Gassco, as operator for both Nyhamna and Polarled, expects a lot of interest in this region from a number of players. The strong summer deliveries strengthen our belief in this,' added Leversund.
Gassco is the state-owned operator of the Norwegian gas infrastructure, including 8,800 km of pipelines, processing plants in Norway and reception terminals in Germany, Belgium, France and the U.K.
According to the statement, Norway's gas transportation system is the world's largest subsea gas transportation system.
Norway is one of the world's largest exporters of natural gas, and Europe’s second-largest supplier after Russia, meeting about a quarter of the continent’s annual gas demand.
By Hale Turkes
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr