Europe's Gas Prices Soar as Operational Issues at Norwegian Hub Hit Flows

By Giulia Petroni and Dominic Chopping

European natural-gas prices soared to their highest levels this year after Norwegian flows to a key U.K. terminal plunged due to operational issues at an offshore gas platform.

At 1508 GMT, the European gas benchmark Dutch TTF traded 5.2% higher at EUR35.97 a megawatt hour, after rising more than 11% earlier in the day.

An unspecified issue at Sleipner Riser--a platform operated by oil-and-gas giant Equinor--is limiting the amount of gas that Norway's Nyhamna processing plant exports to the Easington gas terminal in England, a spokesperson at Norway's gas pipeline operator Gassco said on Monday.

The Sleipner hub is located in the North Sea and consists of a series of platforms for the production and processing of gas. It is also a connection point between Nyhamna and Easington.

"We are working on a plan to repair the damage and to establish compensating actions to deliver gas at the highest rate possible to Europe," the Gassco spokesperson said. The operator didn't provide details on the nature of the damage nor a timeline for the repair.

Equinor didn't respond to a request for comment.

Realtime data from Gassco showed an unplanned outage at the Nyhamna plant and that flows into the Easington terminal--the entry point for up to one-third of the U.K.'s total gas supply--dove to zero.

Equinor is investing heavily to increase gas production amid higher European demand for Norway's natural gas. The Norwegian energy major has become the largest gas supplier to Europe after Russian supply was cut following the country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It currently produces gas equivalent to the consumption of more than 50 million European households.

Write to Giulia Petroni at giulia.petroni@wsj.com and Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 03, 2024 11:34 ET (15:34 GMT)

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