MAXIM SHEMETOV / REUTERS
The Russian giant Gazprom “completely” suspends its deliveries to the French group Engie due to non-payment by the latter for all deliveries made in July.
GAZ – The Russian giant Gazprom announced on Tuesday August 30 that it was going to completely suspend its deliveries of gaz to the French group Engie from Thursday, due to the latter’s non-payment of all the deliveries made in July.
« Gazprom Export notified Engie of a complete suspension of gas deliveries from September 1, 2022 until receipt in full of the financial sums due for the deliveries.said the Russian group in a press release published Tuesday evening on its Telegram account.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, wanting “reassure Engie customers”asserted, during the Quotidien program on the TMC channel this Tuesday, that the French group had “found other sources of supply”without specifying which ones.
This Tuesday, the French energy company Engie announced for its part in a brief press release that the Russian giant Gazprom had informed it of additional and immediate reductions in its gas deliveries to it. “due to a disagreement between the parties on the application of contracts”.
Deliveries of Russian gas to Engie had already fallen considerably since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, recently dropping to just 1.5 TWh (terawatt-hour) per month, according to Engie. This figure relates to supplies “annual totals in Europe above 400 TWh” for Engie, adds the main gas supplier in France, of which the French State holds nearly 24%.
An “optimal” filling rate for the start of winter
At the end of July, Engie assured that it had significantly reduced its “financial and physical exposure to Russian gas”which already represented only about 4% of its supplies. “It is completely within the margin of the flexibility of our portfolios, so we are not at all worried”said its general manager Catherine MacGregor at the time.
The group also recalls on Tuesday that it has already put in place measures to be able to supply its customers even in the event of an interruption in Gazprom flows. Last Thursday, France’s gas stocks exceeded the 90% filling threshold for the winter (91.47% Tuesday morning), according to the European Aggregated Gas Storage Inventory (AGSI) platform, and France is in good on its way to meeting its target of 100% by November.
“At the level of gas arrivals, we are still seeing today injections which continue to be completely in line with our forecasts and will allow us to be able to arrive at the start of winter with a filling rate which will be optimal for the whole of France”Pierre Chambon, managing director of Storengy France, a subsidiary of Engie specializing in storage, told AFP on Tuesday.
The Nord Stream gas pipeline under maintenance
Moreover, as announced a few days ago by Gazprom, all gas deliveries from Russia to Europe via the Nord Stream gas pipeline were again stopped on Wednesday. In question, work in a compressor station in northern Germany, from where the gas is then exported to other European countries.
This interruption must last three days.
See also on The HuffPost: Sobriety or rationing, Borne’s warning to bosses