CGT announced on Monday a “blocking of LNG terminals and underground gas storage” this week, at a time when France is trying to establish maximum reserves in the face of Russian gas shortage.
These blockages will prevent external companies from accessing the sites, consequently “the works will be interrupted and this will weigh heavily on the capacities of the LNG terminals and underground storage facilities to emit gas on the network during next winter”, warns the FNME- CGT in a press release. “In the absence of a response to the height, it could be really difficult to fill 100% of the underground gas storage and to make the LNG terminals 100% operational! “, she continues.
The reserves filled by the fall?
The CGT is calling for an increase in wages and the revaluation of pensions for employees of the electricity and gas industries (IEG). It also carries a broader program of renationalization of the sector.
The Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced on Thursday that France intended to fill its gas reserves to nearly 100% by the fall. Operators are currently required to fill these reserves to only 85% by 1 November. Gas storage is currently 59% full, compared to 46% on the same date last year.
The GRTgaz network manager had previously called for national storage to be filled “as much as possible”. According to him, France could face a total stoppage of Russian gas deliveries in the event of a “normal” winter. In the event of “intense or late” cold, however, targeted cuts should be used for certain large consumers.