10 Apr 2024 | 09:42 UTC

French gas grid operators call for continued gas savings this summer

Highlights

Gas 'sobriety' part of plans to fill storage ahead of next winter

Refilling of stocks possible by end-October with current capacity

Russian gas disruption means filling margin is 'low'

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French gas grid operators GRTgaz and Terega have called for continued gas savings this summer to help refill storage sites ahead of next winter.

In their summer outlook published April 9, the operators said it would be possible to meet storage filling targets by the end of October given current French import capacity and maintenance schedules over the summer.

But, it said, with Russian gas flows to Europe having been disrupted, the margin for refilling stocks was "low".

France exited the previous winter at the end of March with storage sites still filled to 39.4% of capacity and 50.4 TWh of gas in stock, the operators said. This, they said, was 10 TWh higher than the maximum of the last seven years.

"The filling campaign has started and is progressing as planned," the operators said.

They said that according to the different scenarios studied, filling the storages by the end of October was possible given the capacity available on the network and maintenance programs.

However, they said maximum filling of storage assumed continued "sobriety" efforts to save gas given the potential for cold summer weather, a strong economic recovery and the anticipation of a cold 2024/2025 winter.

It also said storage filling would also require the sustained use of the Dunkirk entry point for Norwegian pipeline gas, the Pirineos interconnection point between France and Spain, and LNG imports at a sustained level throughout the summer.

Storage obligations

In France, storage filling must meet two regulatory requirements: one French obligation that stipulates that by Nov. 1 shippers fill storage sites to 85% of their subscriptions and the other at the EU level that imposes on France to have filled storages to 90% by Nov. 1.

The grid operators also said that high French stocks would be key in the context of war in Ukraine, with potentially high gas exports required to be delivered to Germany, Switzerland and Belgium.

France has become a key gateway for the supply of regasified LNG to the rest of Europe since Russian pipeline deliveries to Europe were sharply curtailed through 2022.

France imported some 26.1 million mt (36 Bcm) of LNG in 2022, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Imports dipped slightly in 2023, amounting to 22 million mt, the data showed, with the US accounting for a little over 50% of supplies.

Delivered LNG prices in Europe continue to trade under $10/MMBtu and remain well down on their record levels from August 2022.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the DES Northwest Europe LNG marker on April 9 at $8.45/MMBtu.


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