Norway's Equinor to supply EU gas procurement scheme

(Adds Equinor comment) By Nora Buli TROLL A PLATFORM, North Sea, March 17 (Reuters) - N orway's Equinor will join the European Union's joint scheme for gas procurement as a supplier, with the aim of signing more long-term contracts, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.


Reuters | Updated: 17-03-2023 20:54 IST | Created: 17-03-2023 20:54 IST
Norway's Equinor to supply EU gas procurement scheme

(Adds Equinor comment) By Nora Buli

TROLL A PLATFORM, North Sea, March 17 (Reuters) - N orway's Equinor will join the European Union's joint scheme for gas procurement as a supplier, with the aim of signing more long-term contracts, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday. EU countries, as well as Ukraine, are planning to buy gas together in a bid to improve security of energy supply. The first contracts are expected to be signed this summer.

"We are happy that Equinor will join (the scheme) as a supplier," von der Leyen told reporters during a visit to a North Sea gas platform. "The goal is that we have more long-term contracts," she said, adding the terms of agreements would be up to the companies involved.

Equinor, which has become Europe's largest gas supplier following a drop in flows from Russia's Gazprom, said it "has always been open to enter into bilateral gas sales agreements" and still is. "We have previously said that we understand that the EU want to establish the EU Energy Platform as a time-limited measure to ensure storage filling before next winter," Equinor said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

The Norwegian energy minister has previously said he does not fear Europe's joint gas platform would become a buyers' cartel that would disadvantage Norway as a supplier. The Nordic country has been seeking assurances from the EU that the bloc would buy its gas over the long term so it has an incentive to maintain production.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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