Norwegian gas production beats April forecast

Norway's gas sales totalled 9.2bn m³ in April, the regulator NPD said May 20. This was a decrease of 0.6bn m³ from March but 11.6% higher than the forecast figure and 4.8% higher than April 2020.

Last year saw a lot of maintenance work postponed until this year owing to logistical difficulties. That has contributed to bullish sentiment, and the very high prices at hubs.

Since the December forecast, spring and summer gas prices have risen across northwest Europe and so some maintenance  of offshore fields might have been delayed a little longer. There is the possibility that Asian demand will tail off with summer, leaving more LNG available for Europe. Gas demand however will remain high as the storage facilities will need filling from their very low levels, with a quarter of the injection season already gone.