Equinor warns on gas price cap complications

The Norwegian producer stresses that imposing a maximum price will not solve underlying issues

Norway’s Equinor sells gas to Europe on contracts linked to the market price or on a spot basis, so will be benefitting substantially from European gas prices that have spiked yet again this week after Russia failed to return the Nord Steam 1 pipeline to service. So, it is perhaps no surprise that Helge Haugane, Equinor’s senior vice-president, gas and power, was put on the spot at Gastech in Milan on Wednesday on the EU’s idea of introducing a gas price cap. Initial proposals seem to focus on a ceiling for Russian purchases only. But it is hardly beyond the bounds of possibility that, if it could be made to work, the cap could be extended to other suppliers. For Haugane, whether the concept