Repair of the export gas pipeline to Norway will last two days

Nora Booley

OSLO, June 4 (Reuters) – Disruptions to Norwegian gas exports to Britain via the Langeled pipeline are likely to be cleared in the next two days, with supplies resuming early June 7, Norwegian system operator Gassko said on Tuesday.

The accident, which Gasco blamed on a crack in a two-inch pipe on Equinor’s Sleipner Riser platform, sent gas prices higher in Europe, the United States and elsewhere on Monday.

“Based on what we’ve been told by the field operator, this is the repair time we think it will take to fix the problem,” Alfred Hansen, Gassco’s head of systems operations, told Reuters after the meeting with Equinor.

Repairs could take longer or shorter, but are not expected to take several weeks, he added.

Norway has overtaken Russia as Europe’s biggest gas supplier in 2022 following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, so any disruption to Norwegian fields could cause prices to rise.

Supply disruptions lifted gas prices in Europe to their highest since December on Monday amid fears supply could be cut at a time when remaining Russian volumes and heat in Asia intensify competition for liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Europe’s benchmark gas price, the Dutch one-month contract, responded to Gassco’s latest forecast by losing 4% to €34.93/MWh at 0925 GMT.

It hit a high of 38.56 euros on Monday, its highest level since early December.

(Reporting by Nora Buley; Editing by Terje Solsvik, Rashmi Eich and David Evans; Editing in Spanish by Javi West Larrañaga)