Norway outage exposes Europe’s gas vulnerability

Significance The price reaction reflects Europe’s increased dependence on the smooth running of the Norwegian gas export system in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While likely to be resolved quickly, the outage highlights the risk of dependence on large capacity infrastructure. Impacts Although short-lived, the supply interruption will strengthen calls for greater investment in the remaining UK gas reserves. The case for increased gas storage in the United Kingdom will be strengthened. Given the sabotage inflicted on the Nord Stream pipeline in September 2022, oil and gas infrastructure security will remain a concern. UK dependence on LNG imports and interconnectors will continue to rise until 2045.