Norway Keeps Gas Back in June

Norway kept more gas off the market again in June, as prices at continental hubs remained at historically low levels. In the first six months of the year it has produced 56.75bn m³, nearly all of which was exported by pipeline to Europe, down from a December forecast 58.73bn m³ for the first half, according to preliminary June data from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. 

Output roughly matched the forecast for the first three months of the year but then in April the gap between forecast and actual output began to widen sharply as hub prices fell.

June output was 1bn m³ short of forecast as the cancellation of US cargoes failed to boost European prices. For June and July the forecast output was the same as last year's actual (9.34bn m³ and 9.58bn m³ respectively), so the dots on the graph overlap. While the US LNG was expected, and the very mild weather might have been, global gas demand destruction that also hit the spot price in Asia was not.

Source: NPD

This time last year, in a more benign environment for producers, the country had almost managed to equal the forecast 61.85bn m³, with output of 61.35bn m³.