Page 7 - EurOil Week 11 2023

EurOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT EurOil

French LNG terminals shut down by

strike action

FRANCE FRANCE’S four LNG terminals went offline facilities for the first time since mid-February.
early last week as a result of industrial action, The strikes have also affected fuel deliveries
The strikes relate to and they are not expected to resume operations and refining operations at several sites operated
planned government until March 14. Their shutdown has triggered a by TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil, Reuters has
pension reforms. spike in European gas prices, which for weeks reported. Further exacerbating the country’s
have seen steady decline. energy woes, industrial action at nuclear, ther-
A rolling national strike against the govern- mal and hydroelectric power plants (HPPs)
ment’s plan to delay the pension age has hit mul- has caused electricity output to plummet by
tiple sectors, including refineries, nuclear power 9.9 GW, although France has remained a net
plants (NPPs) and LNG terminals. power exporter thanks to strong wind power
France’s northernmost and largest LNG ter- generation.
minal, the 12.4mn tonne per year (tpy) facility The LNG disruption, coinciding with a
in Dunkirk operated by Fluxys, was forced to cold snap across northern and north-western
declare a force majeure on March 8. There have Europe, caused a rare spike in European power
also been stoppages at Elengy’s 8mn tpy Mon- prices at the end of last week. The April TTF
toir, the 2.2mn tpy Fos Tonkin and 6.6mn tpy Fos gas price climbed to €52.9 per MWh ($600 per
Cavaou terminals. 1,000 cubic metres) at the end of last year, up
France had to resort to imported pipeline sup- from €43.6 during the previous trading session.
ply via Belgium last week for the first time since This marks the biggest day-on-day climb in
July to cover shortages. Meanwhile, France’s the front-month contract since November last
interconnector with Spain that runs via the Pir- year, following a fairly steady and significant
ineos point reversed its flow to supply France decline in European gas prices over the last three
with gas imported at Spanish regasification months. ™

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