# CERAWEEK-Europe gas supplies to stay tight 2 more winters, Equinor CEO says Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2023-03-08 Category: NEWS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/news Meta Title: Europe's Struggle to Replace Russian Gas Supplies Meta Description: Equinor's CEO says Europe will face challenges replacing Russian gas supplies as China's demand for LNG rises. Learn more about the energy URL: https://financedigest.com/ceraweek-europe-gas-supplies-to-stay-tight-2-more-winters-equinor-ceo-sayshtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/2023-03-07t190648z1lynxmpej260tortroptp4equinor-ceo-1736814364069-compressed.jpg) By Ron Bousso and Simon Webb HOUSTON (Reuters) – Europe will struggle over the next two winters to replace Russian natural gas supplies as China’s appetite for the fuel recovers, the chief executive of Norwegian energy giant Equinor told Reuters on Tuesday. Equinor became Europe’s top natural gas supplier last year after exports from Russia were mostly choked off following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The [company increased gas output by around](https://www.financedigest.com/around-40-of-german-companies-expect-output-decline-in-2023-iw-institute.html "Around 40% of German companies expect output decline in 2023 – IW institute") 8% in 2022 to supply the continent, Anders Opedal said. Europe cut demand, increased domestic output and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) at huge cost in response to the drop in Russian gas supplies, which [accounted for around](https://www.financedigest.com/5-common-mistakes-around-accounts-payable-automation.html "5 Common Mistakes Around Accounts Payable Automation") half of the region’s supply in 2021. A relatively [mild winter](https://www.financedigest.com/winter-weather-could-be-mild-german-met-office-dwd-says.html "Winter weather could be mild, German met office DWD says") helped maintain gas reserves at comfortable levels. “Trying to replace 150 billion cubic metres of (Russian) gas is a massive task. I’m impressed by how Europe coped with the situation,” he said. Going forward, Europe will continue to find it difficult to secure supplies due to a revival in LNG demand from [China after it scrapped COVID](https://www.financedigest.com/who-urges-china-to-share-specific-data-regularly-on-covid-situation.html "WHO urges China to share specific data regularly on COVID situation") restrictions late last year, Opedal said. “The same uncertainty we had before this winter will repeat itself in 2024. And probably also 2025. It’s only in 2026-2027 that we see new meaningful new [energy supplies](https://www.financedigest.com/ges-investors-seek-solutions-to-renewable-energy-supply-chain-challenges.html "GE’s investors seek solutions to renewable energy, supply chain challenges") from the U.S. and Qatar.” Competition from Asia for LNG supplies means [European demand](https://www.financedigest.com/token-inc-launches-london-office-to-answer-demand-from-european-banks.html "Token, Inc. Launches London Office to Answer Demand from European Banks") will depend not just of its own weather conditions but also those in Asia. The weather in [Asia can set the gas price in Europe,”](https://www.financedigest.com/heineken-sees-europe-resilience-offseting-asia-slowdown-risk.html "Heineken sees Europe resilience offseting Asia slowdown risk") Opedal said. Equinor produced over 2 million barrels of oil equivalent of oil and gas in 2022, when it reported a record adjusted operating [profit of $75 billion on the back of soaring oil](https://www.financedigest.com/big-oil-doubles-profits-in-blockbuster-2022.html "Big Oil doubles profits in blockbuster 2022") and gas prices. It aims to maintain [stable oil](https://www.financedigest.com/oil-prices-stable-heading-for-weekly-gain.html "Oil prices stable, heading for weekly gain") and gas production until 2030 and supply Europe with at least 40 bcm of gas to Europe every year over the same period, Opedal said. Equinor [plans to drill 25 exploration wells this year](https://www.financedigest.com/3-factors-to-plan-for-in-2017-a-year-like-none-other.html "3 Factors to Plan for in 2017, A Year Like None Other") in the Norwegian North Sea to find new resources and reverse the natural depletion of oil and gas fields. It will also decide in spring whether to green-light the $5 billion development of a major oilfield in the British [North Sea](https://www.financedigest.com/offshore-crews-to-strike-on-bps-north-sea-installations-says-unite.html "Offshore crews to strike on BP’s North Sea installations, says Unite"), Rosebank, Opedal added. Last week Equinor agreed to [acquire the British](https://www.financedigest.com/hsbc-acquires-british-arm-of-stricken-silicon-valley-bank.html "HSBC acquires British arm of stricken Silicon Valley Bank") oil and gas business of Canada’s Suncor Energy for $850 million, giving it a 29.9% stake in the Buzzard oilfield as well as an additional 40% stake in the Rosebank project. Equinor operates the Johan Sverdrup oilfield, the largest in the North Sea with a production capacity of 720,000 barrels per day (bpd). The field [suffered an outage last month](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-factories-suffer-worst-month-since-may-2020-as-economy-stumbles-pmi.html "UK factories suffer worst month since May 2020 as economy stumbles – PMI") due to a technical fault in a cooling system. Opedal, who joined Equinor in 1997 and became CEO in 2020, also said the global [oil market remains vulnerable due to a limited amount of spare production](https://www.financedigest.com/best-paying-jobs-in-oil-and-gas-production.html "Best Paying Jobs in Oil And Gas Production") capacity after years of underinvestment. (Editing by David Gregorio) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---