Norway says Ukraine war exposes gas infrastructure vulnerabilities
Published May 9, 2023 11:55 am
OSLO, Norway - Norway's National Security Authority warned Tuesday that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has shown that the country's undersea oil and gas infrastructure could be vulnerable to sabotage and requires measures to protect it.
The assessment comes seven months after the Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea were hit by explosions whose perpetrator has yet to be established.
Norway, a major energy supplier to Europe, supplanted Russia as the main provider of natural gas following the war last year.
"Experience in the period following the invasion shows that the undersea infrastructure that transports gas, power and electronic communications can be particularly exposed and vulnerable to sabotage," the Norwegian security agency said in a report.
For undersea infrastructure, like other critical facilities in the country, "security measures must be implemented so that an adequate level of security is achieved," the authority said.
The Nord Stream gas pipelines were hit by blasts in September. Criminal investigations are being conducted by Germany, Sweden and Denmark, which border the damaged sections.
Norway mainly supplies Europe with gas through a network of undersea pipelines.
The Scandinavian country is also a major exporter of oil -- partly via pipelines -- and a supplier of electricity via long cables linking it to the continent.
In a sign of the vulnerability of installations, a portion of an underwater cable off the coast of Norway mysteriously disappeared in early 2021.Â
Then another communication cable between the mainland and the Svalbard archipelago in the far north was broken in January 2022.Â
Authorities could not establish responsibility in either case, but Norwegian media pointed towards neighbouring Russia, noting the presence of Russian trawlers in the areas at the time.
"The government believes that offensive and targeted measures are needed to meet the challenges we face," Norwegian Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl told a press conference as she received the national security report.
The report identified 50 vulnerabilities to national security.