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Norway Says Can't Fill Gas Gap in Europe Caused By Russian Halt

Posted on: Tuesday, 3 January 2006, 09:00 CST

Norway says can't fill gas gap in Europe caused by Russian halt

STOCKHOLM, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Norway, West Europe's biggest natural gas exporter, is unable to fill a gas supply gap in central Europe caused by Russia's cutoff of deliveries to Ukraine, officials said on Monday.

Russia's state-controlled gas giant Gazprom cut deliveries to Ukraine on Sunday after Kiev refused a near-quadruple increase in the price it pays for Russian gas in 2006.

The price row also affected central European countries as the pipelines that transit Ukraine also supply parts of western Europe.

"We are producing at full capacity... We cannot do anything about it for the time being," Norway's Oil and Energy Ministry spokeswoman Trude Larstad said.

According to Norwegian energy officials, Norway's pipeline system has been delivering near record volumes -- about 270 million cubic meters per day -- to the European continent and Britain.

Major producer companies in Norway also said their production was running at full capacity during winter time.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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