Page 10 - EurOil Week 39 2022

EurOil POLICY EurOil

Norway beefs up security at

oil and gas installations

NORWAY NORWAY will beef up security around its oil far, much indicates acts of sabotage,” Aasland
and gas installations, Energy Minister Terje said in a statement. The government has said it is
The move follows the Aasland said on September 27, following reports consulting with the armed forces and operators
sightings of unidentified that large methane leaks along the Nord Stream of oil and gas facilities both on land and offshore.
drones near Norwegian 1 and 2 pipelines had been caused by explosions. According to Norwegian newspaper Sta-
oil and gas platforms. Europe is investigating the causes of the leaks vanger, unidentified drones were spotted near
at the Russian pipelines that occurred on Sep- at least six installations operated by Norway’s
tember 26, and Sweden, whose seismologists Equinor, and a spokesperson for the company
recorded two explosions on the same day, has confirmed this to Reuters. Drones have also been
opened a probe into possible sabotage as the seen near Kristin, Gullfaks C, Snorre A and Gina
cause. On the same day as the leaks, Norway’s oil Krog installations, Aftenbladet reported.
safety regulator PSA warned oil and gas opera- These developments come as the Baltic Pipe
tors to be vigilant, amid sightings of unidentified was officially inaugurated on September 27 – a
drones near platforms. pipeline that will carry up to 10bn cubic metres
“We would urge increased vigilance, a review per year of Norwegian gas to Poland, giving the
of emergency preparedness measures and inci- latter a viable replacement to Russian gas in the
dent response, and information sharing,” the long term. Poland lost its Russian gas supply at
PSA said in a letter to operators, according to the end of April.
Reuters. Baltic Pipe runs close to Nord Stream at cer-
“Based on the information we have seen so tain points. ™

Germany prepares to nationalise Uniper

GERMANY GERMANY is preparing to nationalise energy changed since Russia attacked Ukraine, and so
giant Uniper in order to safeguard its energy has the outlook for a gas-heavy portfolio,” For-
Fortum, the current security in the coming winter. tum CEO Markus Rauramo said. “As a result,
owner, estimates The deal, which comes after Berlin bailed the business case for an integrated group is no
that Uniper has out Uniper in Germany’s largest ever corporate longer viable.”
accumulated almost rescue in July, will see the government assume Shares in Uniper have dropped in value by
€8.5bn in gas-related a 98.5% stake in the firm at a cost of €8.5bn over 90% over the past year.
losses ($8.5bn). The company has been hit hard by cuts Under the deal, the German government
in Russian gas supply in recent months, forcing will buy Fortum’s shares in Uniper for €500mn,
it to buy costly replacement volumes on the spot and also inject €8bn of cash into the business to
market. It is the biggest buyer of Russian gas in help keep it afloat. Uniper assets in Russia, which
Germany. include gas-fired and coal-fired power stations,
The agreement on the company’s nationalisa- will also come under the German government’s
tion was reached between the government and control. Uniper has already committed to sell-
Uniper’s current largest shareholder, Finland’s ing those assets, in light of Moscow’s invasion of
Fortum, last week. Ukraine.
“Today’s agreement provides clarity on the The government had already agreed to take a
ownership structure, allows us to continue our 30% interest in Uniper as part of the July bailout
business and to fulfil our role as a system-criti- deal. Economy Minister Robert Habeck said this
cal energy supplier,” Uniper CEO Klaus-Dieter month that nationalising Uniper was a “neces-
Maubach said in a statement. “This secures the sary” step that would help “ensure security of
energy supply for companies, municipal utilities supply for Germany.” He added that even with
and consumers.” the loss of Russian gas supply, Germany had suc-
Fortum estimates that Uniper has accumu- ceeded in filling its gas storage facilities to more
lated almost €8.5bn in gas-related losses “and than 90% of capacity.
cannot continue to fulfil its role as a critical pro- “This means that, as a whole, we have coped
vider of security of supply as a privately owned quite well with the situation,” he said. “But for
company.” Uniper the situation became significantly more
“The role of gas in Europe has fundamentally dramatic and significantly worse.” ™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 39 30•September•2022