Reliability, sustainability and liberalization - important messages in the marketing of Norwegian gas in Europe - were the main themes in a speech delivered by Petter Nore, vice president of Hydro's International Business Development unit, at the gas conference Flame in Amsterdam on Thursday.
Flame is an important venue for European gas market participants. This year’s conference is being staged from March 12 to 16, and a large number of Hydro delegates are taking part.
“Norway is already a major, reliable supplier of gas to Europe and our gas production is increasing. Hydro, the second biggest operator on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, has supplied gas to Europe for more than 30 years. We have more than doubled our gas production since 2001. By 2010 it will be trebled,” said Petter Nore.
Long-term perspectives
In his speech, Nore singled out the long-term perspectives of our industry and the need for favorable conditions to attract willing investors and develop a really good infrastructure in Europe. “A smoothly functioning market is an important element, and we believe that EU is on the right track in gas market liberalization project,” he added.
“European politicians need to create a market that permits competition on equal terms in order to secure the supply of energy to Europe and utilize the environmental benefits natural gas has compared with other fossil fuels. An important first step is to secure equitable access to the infrastructure for all market participants.”
Opportunities in Russia
Nore also delivered an earlier speech at the conference in which he described the opportunities for foreign companies to become major producer of gas in Russia.
“My thrust of my message was that the Russian authorities are mainly interested in foreign companies if they have specific technological expertise to offer. The biggest opportunity lies in opening up the offshore Arctic area. This is also reflected in Hydro’s Russia strategy that states we shall concentrate on offshore activity in this area,” explains Nore.
Petter Nore will take up the position of General Secretary of the International Gas Union (IGU) in October this year.