Norway gas fields set for pre-winter maintenance bout

Equinor ASA

26/08/2026 15:20

Maintenance curbs gas export by 71 mcm/day through September
Ongoing Ormen Lange field outage curbs supply until February 1
Maintenance in 2027 planned to be more extensive than in 2026
By Nora Buli
STAVANGER, Norway, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Norway's natural gas export capacity will be curbed by around 20% in a period until the end of September due to a final round of planned maintenance to prepare the system for the European high-demand winter season, infrastructure operator Gassco said.
The Nordic country is the continent's biggest gas producer, meeting over 30% of demand, making its supplies crucial at a time of low storage levels in many countries and disruption in deliveries from the Middle East due to the Iran war.
Median aggregated capacity reduction at Norway's gas fields and processing plants will reach 71 million cubic metres (mcm) per day, one fifth of deliveries, which typically total around 340 mcm/day, Gassco transparency data shows.
Maintenance, which has been on the lighter side this year, has so far progressed largely according to plan, said Alfred Skaar Hansen, head of system operation at Gassco, which manages Norway's gas pipelines and export terminals.
"This bodes well for the rest of the year," Hansen told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Stavanger, Norway's main oil and gas hub.
However, a longer outage at the Ormen Lange field will cut supply by 7.9 mcm/day until February 1, although this is below an initial estimate by operator Shell of 8.9 mcm/day.
In 2025, Gassco delivered 114.9 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas through its 8,800-km (5,468-mile) pipeline network, while deliveries so far this year stand at 76.1 bcm, up about 1.3 bcm year-on-year.
"The storage situation is a priority in Europe, so there is a willingness to transport as much gas as possible," Hansen said. 
There is always some spare capacity in Gassco's pipeline system, allowing those booking flows, known as shippers, enough flexibility on the timing of gas deliveries, he said.
"Right now, it's a question of production capacity," Hansen said.
Next year's maintenance schedule is shaping up to be busier than in 2026 and Gassco will finalise its 2027 maintenance plan in November or December, he said.

 (Reporting by Nora Buli, editing by Terje Solsvik and Tomasz Janowski)
 ((Nora.Buli@thomsonreuters.com; (+47) 21 04 05 56; Reuters Messaging: nora.buli.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net/))