SerpApi.Org
The head of Europe's largest supplier of natural gas expects the continent to miss its goal of filling gas storage sites to 80% of capacity before the winter.
"We do not think that Europe will necessarily be able to fill up its stocks to more than 80% this autumn," Equinor (EQNR) CEO Anders Opedal told Reuters on Wednesday, as gas volumes at European storage sites are significantly lower than the five-year average and at their second-lowest level in 15 years.
With gas storage levels currently at just 54%, Europe will be more exposed to market price swings this winter than in previous winters, the CEO said.
The U.S.-Iran war has effectively halted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, including ~20% of the world's liquefied natural gas, and Russian pipeline gas supplies have been mostly phased out because of the war in Ukraine.
"The gas that was supposed to come from Qatar was supposed to go to Asia, and that means that LNG that earlier in the year came into Europe is now going to Asia," Opedal said, referring to the increased competition for global supplies.
The CEO's comments came after Equinor (EQNR) reported a sharp increase in Q2 profit, boosted by the surge in oil and gas prices as the war in the Middle East disrupted global energy supplies.
Q2 adjusted earnings before tax jumped to $11.48B from $6.54B in the year-earlier, broadly in line with the $11.37B forecast in a poll of 17 analysts compiled by the company.
Equinor (EQNR) shares rose 6.3% on Wednesday following the report.
