The situation changed in a few hours. This Tuesday, the Engie group announced in a brief press release a further reduction in deliveries from the giant Gazprom, confirming fears about supplies for the winter despite well-filled stocks. And this, “due to a disagreement between the parties on the application of contracts”.
But in the evening, the Russian gas company declared that it would completely suspend its gas deliveries to the French group Engie from Thursday, due to the latter’s non-payment for all deliveries made in July.
“Gazprom Export has notified Engie of a complete suspension of gas deliveries from September 1, 2022 until full receipt of the financial sums due for the deliveries”, indicated the Russian group in a press release published Tuesday evening on its website. Telegram account.
Under a decree by Russian President Vladimir Putin signed at the end of March, Gazprom specifies that “it is prohibited to deliver more natural gas to a foreign buyer if the buyer has not made payment in full within the set period in the contract”.
However, Gazprom affirms not to have received Tuesday at the end of the day the entirety of the sums due for the deliveries of July. Engie, contacted by AFP on Tuesday evening, declined to comment on Gazprom’s announcement.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, wanting to “reassure Engie customers”, affirmed, during the Quotidien program on the TMC channel, that the French group had “found other sources of supply”, without specifying which ones.
Deliveries of Russian gas to Engie had already dropped significantly since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, recently dropping to just 1.5 TWh (terawatt-hour) per month, according to Engie. The group recalls 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% fill 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.