Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor has signed a five-year natural gas supply agreement with Germany’s RWE.

Under the agreement, starting in October 2023, Equinor will supply approximately 10–15TWh of natural gas annually.

Equinor said the contract has fixed prices as per the market terms and it will deliver the gas at the Trading Hub Europe (THE) in Germany.

The deal builds on the existing partnership between Equinor and RWE.

Earlier this year, the companies, as part of the German-Norwegian Partnership on Climate, Renewable Energy and Green Industry, announced plans to create large-scale value chains to guarantee supply security and lower emissions.

Exports of low-carbon hydrogen from Norway to Germany will be an important component of the value chain.

Equinor senior vice-president of gas & power Helge Haugane said: “Germany and Norway have been energy partners ever since Norwegian gas exports first started more than 45 years ago.

“I am very pleased that we continue to develop this partnership and that we can announce another bilateral agreement between Equinor and RWE, which is one of many companies that see Norwegian gas as an enabler for energy security as well as of the energy transition.”

RWE supply & trading CEO Andree Stracke said: “We are delighted to have signed a long-term gas supply agreement with our partner Equinor. For us as a global energy trader gas plays an important role in the energy transition.

“The newly concluded gas supply agreement adds a further important building block to our Pan-European natural gas portfolio contributing to security of supply.”

Last month, Equinor signed a similar gas supply deal with OMV, an Austrian energy company.

Under the five-year agreement, Equinor will supply 12TWh of gas every year to THE in Germany.