Norwegian oil company Equinor sees a substantial reduction in demand as the sole short-term solution to Europe’s energy crises in the event that Russia permanently cuts off gas supply.

Senior Vice President of Gas and Power at Equinor Helge Haugane tells Reuters that an EU proposal to introduce a cap on gas imports used to generate electricity, among other things, won’t solve the underlying problem. This move, along with aid packages, will protect utilities and households against soaring energy bills.

”In case the Russian volumes halt completely, the demand reduction needs to be even larger than what we so far have experienced, and no price cap or anything like that can solve the underlying problem,” the Equinor SVP says.

He says that in the medium term, Europe will need to increase liquefied natural gas and regasification capacity while also stepping up the pace of renewables development, which has been too slow in the past.

In July, the EU asked its 27 member nations to voluntarily decrease gas demand by 15% this winter, but progress on reducing consumption has been slow as well.

Germany, a driver of economic growth in Europe, has entered phase two of a three-step emergency plan after a drastic reduction in Russian gas deliveries. The third phase involves rationing gas, which is now viewed as a realistic scenario, not least if the Nord Stream 1 pipeline stays offline, writes Reuters.

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