On Thursday 27 October in Oslo, at a joint press conference with the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, the Norwegian minister of petroleum and energy, Terje Aasland, once again expressed his government’s opposition to the idea of a gas price cap, an option called for by several European Union countries.
“The most reasonable way to deal with the future and the particular situation (of the energy crisis) is to have a commercial framework in which companies meet and conclude contracts for gas and energy”, the minister replied to a journalist’s question.
For several weeks, the EU and Norway have been stepping up their discussions on the energy crisis. They established a task force composed of senior officials from both sides.
However, the discussions seem to be progressing with difficulty. During the press conference, Ms Simson remained very evasive on the development of the dialogue, simply pointing out that her trip to Norway was not intended to replace the work of the task force.
“I think the working group should continue to discuss (...) whether there are solutions to the critical situation”, said Mr Aasland. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)