Lysaker, 09 November 2006 Nord Pool has received the following information from the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE): Increased water reservoir level Increased precipitation lead to above normal inflow in week 44 and the water reservoir level in Norway increased by 0.3 percentage points from week 43 to week 44. At the end of week 44 the reservoir level was 64.3 percent. Despite the increase, the water reservoir level is 1.3 percentage points below the minimum value from the dry year 1996. Colder weather in the Nordic region resulted in increased consumption and production of electricity. Both the Nordic consumption and production increased by 0.8 TWh from last week. In Norway the change in production was higher than the increased consumption. Hence, a larger share of the consumption was covered by domestic production. Norway was still a net importer of electricity in week 44. During the last eight weeks the average net import has been about 160 GWh. Although the increased demand for electricity resulted in higher prices in some Nordic areas, the electricity prices in south Norway fell from week 43. The prices fell by 6 kr/MWh to 451 kr/MWh and the prices have not been lower since week 30. For residential consumers with a market price contract and a margin of 2.5 øre/kWh, the price for electricity in week 44 would be 58.6 øre/kWh. ------------------------------- Contact person at the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate: Tor Arnt Johnsen, NVE, phone: +47 9302 4238 Jon Sagen, NVE, phone: +47 2295 9595