Gas prices in Europe have been rising sharply in recent months

The Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor and its partners have obtained permits to increase gas supplies from the Norwegian Troll and Oseberg fields. Equinor said on Monday that in the next twelve months it will be able to send more raw materials to other European countries via gas pipelines. Gas prices in Europe have been rising sharply in recent months. The Russian company Gazprom has recently completed the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, but the European Union does not want Russian gas. The Norwegian government has allowed to increase supplies by a total of two billion cubic meters between early October and late September next year. Deliveries from the Troll field should thus increase by one billion to 37 billion cubic meters, and deliveries from the Oseberg field should also increase by one billion to a total of six billion cubic meters. "The permit will allow us to produce more gas from these two important fields," said Equinor. "We think it is very well timed because Europe is facing unusual tensions in the gas market," it added. The permitted increase corresponds to almost two percent of Norway's annual gas exports via pipelines. Since the beginning of last October, Norway has exported 106 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe via pipelines. The news of increased gas supplies from Norway comes shortly after Russian gas giant Gazprom announced the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which will double Russian gas export capacity along the Baltic Sea floor to Europe. Gazprom chief Alexei Miller warned last week that gas prices in Europe could rise to new highs due to low raw material reserves in the region. But the European Union does not want Russian gas. Brussels is convinced that Moscow could use gas as a political weapon. Since 2011, the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which has the same capacity and is backed by the same operators, has been in operation. In addition to Gazprom, among them are companies from the European Union, namely from Germany, France and the Netherlands. The consortium is called Nord Stream AG, is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, and has a branch in Moscow. Key figures in the consortium include former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. The Nord Stream 2 project has the same headquarters and management, with the only difference being that Gazprom is the sole owner.