Expert does not rule out an increase in gas exports from Russia to the EU
If Norway reduces gas production, there is a possibility that Russia may regain some share of this market in the EU. Stanislav Mitrakhovich, a leading expert of the National Energy Security Fund and the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia on January 17.
Earlier in the day, the British newspaper The Telegraph, citing Andreas Schroeder, head of energy analysis at the Independent Commodity Intelligence Service (ICIS), reported that the call to open the pipes to cheap Russian gas will sound louder and louder as gas prices rise amid Norway's production cuts.
"Norway is a European country, but it is not part of the European Union (EU) for its own reasons, so exports from there are considered exports to the EU, which is still a major supplier of oil and gas to the European Union", Mitrakhovich said.
He said Norway is ahead of the US in gas exports to the EU due to the fact that the consumer is close by.
"In the long term, different things can happen in Norway, given the situations in which energy supplies were reduced, such as accidents at gas fields," Mitrakhovich said.
According to the specialist, there is a possibility that an accelerated energy transition policy will lead to even less investment in oil and gas production. However, if the volume of investment is reduced now, it does not necessarily indicate a marked decline in the country's energy production.
"If Norway moves away from the "wrong economy", it is possible, of course, that in the long term Russia will be able to reclaim a part of this market. Such an option is not excluded, and the fewer suppliers from other countries, the more we can expect Russia to regain some of the opposition," Mitrakhovich summarized.
Earlier, on January 16, Mikhail Belyaev, a financial analyst and candidate of economic sciences, assessed the consequences of Russian gas for the German economy in a conversation with Izvestia. According to him, the German economy is going through great difficulties now, as it was the locomotive for all other economies of the countries. This is another factor in the fact that the European economy is suffering from the lack of Russian gas in adequate quantities.
