power supply
Russia cuts gas supplies to Italy and France
The Russian energy group Gazprom is supplying significantly less gas to Italy than the quantity ordered. Photo: Igor Russak/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Italy receives only half as much gas from Russia as ordered. Gas no longer reaches France through a pipeline in Germany either.
The Russian energy company Gazprom is restricting the delivery of natural gas to Italy. According to the state-owned gas supplier Eni, Gazprom today promised 50 percent of the delivery volume ordered.
Italy actually ordered 63 million cubic meters of gas from Russia that day. Gas deliveries had already been reduced in the previous few days: on Wednesday by 15 percent and on Thursday by 35 percent of the quantities ordered.
The delivery of Russian natural gas to France via a pipeline from Germany has also come to a standstill. The gas supply will not be affected by this, and the filling up of the storage facilities for the winter will continue, the gas network operator GRTgaz announced on Friday.
Gas consumption down
In view of the already declining gas consumption, imports via the pipeline have already been 60 percent below the previous year’s level since the beginning of the year. The pipeline was used to ten percent. Since Wednesday, no gas has reached France through them. Gas is increasingly being imported via a pipeline from Spain.
Even if Russia turned off the gas supply completely, there would be no problems in France in a normal winter. In the event of a harsh winter, there could be calls for more economical use and limited supplies to some industrial customers.
Natural gas from Russia plays a minor role for France. In addition to pipelines, Russian natural gas is also imported by ship. LPG imports in France have increased by 66 percent since the beginning of the year. The capacities of an LNG terminal near Marseille are currently being expanded. Additional capacities are also to be created in the north near Dunkirk and Le Havre.