Celebrating 25 Years of Norwegian Gas Stewardship

Present yesterday, 18 May 2026, in Oslo (Norway), Cav. Eng, Khaled Abubakr – the Vice President of the International Gas Union – delivered a special address on the occasion of Gassco’s 25th anniversary.  

Since 2001, Gassco has ensured the safe and efficient transport of natural gas from Norway to millions of people across Europe. Twenty-five years on, it continues to move society forward through innovation, collaboration and the continued development of a sustainable energy system.

Given the special relationship between Norway and the International Gas Union (IGU), Mr Abubakr marked today’s Gassco celebrations by also having an informal meeting with 20 young professionals from Gassco's operator companies, discussing the specificities of the African Gas market, the latest edition of IGU’s Gas for Africa Report, as well as the main differences between the European and African Gas markets.

Joining several energy Ministers from across Europe who have been invited to attend this exclusive anniversary, including H.E. Mr Terje Aasland - Norway’s Minister of Energy, IGU’s Vice President addressed, in his remarks, a series of global perspectives on the energy market:

“Energy security is not measured in storage capacities and percentages alone. It is measured in whether factories can produce, households can pay, and markets can retain their industrial base for strategic autonomy. Therefore, regulations must be predictable, technically workable, and aligned with security-of-supply realities.

For Europe, in the long term, geographic diversity of production and supply from Africa and South America, is essential. The lesson of Hormuz is the same lesson the world learned after 2022: molecules in the ground do not guarantee energy security. What matters is deliverability - routes, contracts, storage, infrastructure, pipelines, political stability, and trusted partners.

The lesson is universal: interdependence is not a weakness, and it demands responsibility, investment, genuine partnership and global cooperation.”