Deliveries of Russian gas to Engie had already dropped significantly since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, recently falling to just 1.5 TWh per month. And this Tuesday, the French energy company announced 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”.
In a brief press release, Engie recalls having already put in place measures to be able to supply its customers even in the event of an interruption in Gazprom flows. “Engie had already secured the volumes necessary to ensure the supply of its customers and for its own needs”, it is indicated in the text.
Reduce its “financial and physical exposure to Russian gas”
At the end of July, Engie, the main gas supplier in France, in which the French State holds nearly 24%, assured that it had significantly reduced its “financial and physical exposure to Russian gas”, which already represented only around 4 % of its supplies. “It’s completely within the margin of the flexibility of our portfolios, so we’re not at all worried,” said its managing director Catherine MacGregor at the time.
Last Thursday, France’s gas stocks exceeded the 90% fill threshold for the winter, according to the European Aggregated Gas Storage Inventory (AGSI) platform and France is on track to meet its 100% fill target. here November. The government spokesperson Olivier Véran confirmed this Tuesday to France Info that the target would be achieved “by the end of the summer” but warned that this did not mean that France would have “enough gas to survive the winter if the Russians cut it off and if we consumed a lot of it “.