Norway, Europe’s largest gas supplier, is beefing up the security of its power assets, which experts have singled out as vulnerable targets, following worrying drone reports and the “sabotage” of Nord Stream’s Baltic Sea pipelines.

Spectacular as they are, the gas leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which connect Russia with Germany, have had no impact on Europe’s energy supplies, as they were not operational because of the war in Ukraine.

But sabotage — the theory popular among European leaders — of this kind at Norwegian facilities would have disastrous effects on the continent, which is already struggling to meet its energy needs as winter approaches.

Norway has become Europe’s top gas supplier after Moscow halted supplies over alleged retaliation against Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.

The Scandinavian country has a vast network of pipelines connecting it to the continent.

It is currently pumping at full speed: According to official forecasts, its gas exports could reach a record level of 122 billion cubic meters this year.

That compares to the 150 billion cubic meters of gas per year that Russia supplied to the European Union before the war in Ukraine.

Faced with these challenges, the Norwegian police announced on Wednesday that they would strengthen security measures already in place in the energy sector to reduce the risk of an attack.

“The situation is being taken very seriously and several measures have already been taken to ensure the best possible security,” Police Officer Tone Vangen said in a statement.

For security reasons, she did not give any details.

On Tuesday, Petroleum and Energy Minister Terje Aasland made a similar announcement, citing “reports of increased drone activity” near offshore oil platforms.

Norwegian energy giant Equinor has reported flights of “unidentified drones in the vicinity of certain facilities,” a phenomenon that has not occurred before.

“We take this very seriously and have reported it to the police,” Eskil Eriksen, spokesman for Equinor, told AFP without giving further details.

Echoing authorities, oil companies said they were taking extra precautions at their platforms, bases and land and sea facilities.

Thousands of kilometers of oil and gas pipelines, some of which run at great depths, are a weak link in the energy supply chain that is so vital to Europe.

“They are vulnerable, very exposed,” said Tor Ivar Strommen, a researcher at the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy.

He called for additional security measures to be put in place, including regular pipe inspections to ensure no explosives were placed there, as well as closer monitoring of shipping near pipelines.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told the Norwegian news agency NTB that there was “no concrete threat against Norway”.

But for professor and director of the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies Sven Holtsmark, it was “likely” that Moscow, which is often accused of using energy as a weapon, would try to sabotage Norway’s infrastructure.

“Previously, the idea of ??Russia attacking Norwegian facilities would have seemed completely absurd, but we can no longer afford to rule out that possibility” in order to undermine European support for Ukraine, he told AFP.

“[Russian President’s]Vladimir Putin’s toolbox is running out and the war in Ukraine doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.

“It therefore makes sense to me that Putin would decide to sabotage Norwegian facilities, especially since it would be difficult to prove that Russia was behind it,” the expert added.