Equinor warns Europe is vulnerable to winter gas price spike if cold weather hits

By Nora Buli

OSLO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Europe could face another spike in gas prices if cold weather boosts demand later this winter, when stocks are depleted and the region depends more on attracting scarce liquefied natural gas cargoes, Equinor's CEO Anders Opedal said on Wednesday.

The warning came after the Norwegian gas producer reported its highest quarterly earnings since 2022, largely driven by a jump in natural gas as well as oil prices this year.

"Storage levels are at their lowest for this time of year since 2011, and there will be competition for LNG between Asia and Europe, especially if the weather turns cold," Opedal told a press conference.

A cold spell towards the end of the heating season, when gas storage will likely be at its lowest, could lead to significant price volatility, Opedal told Reuters, though he said actual prices were impossible to predict.

Europe's benchmark gas price has more than tripled this year to its highest levels since the 2022 energy crisis, after the US-Israeli war with Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting about 20% of global LNG supplies.

European gas storage sites, which help cover higher demand in winter, were at a historic low of only 75% full at the start of the heating season.

Norway is Europe's single largest natural gas supplier via an extensive pipeline network linking its production directly with customers on the continent and Britain.

Equinor also sells LNG from its own Hammerfest plant in Norway and has signed contracts for US LNG supply, including a deal with Cheniere for 1.75 million metric tons per year.

"The Cheniere contract has now started up, meaning that we also have more LNG cargoes," Opedal told Reuters. "Some of it goes to Europe; some of it goes to other places," he said.

(Reporting by Nora Buli, editing by Terje Solsvik and Elaine Hardcastle)