Europe 1 with AFP 10:45 p.m., January 18, 2023

Despite the energy crisis caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, France has never had such full gas stocks.

A situation which obliges France to have to empty them "a little" in the coming weeks to respect the usual "technical constraints" of the infrastructures. 

France has never had such full gas stocks, to the point that they will have to be "a little" emptied in the coming weeks to respect the usual "technical constraints" in these infrastructures, the network manager said on Wednesday. gas transport GRTgaz.

Storage is "historically well filled" with a level that reached 80% of capacity on January 15, well beyond the average of 55% observed over the last six years at the same time, reports the manager in its update of " gas outlook" for the winter published on its website.

Scrutinized like milk on fire since the summer, these storages were "crucial" for the passage of winter because of fears linked to the drying up of Russian gas in the "pipeline" since the start of the war in Ukraine.

>> READ ALSO -

 EUROPE 1 AND YOU - Condominiums strangled by soaring energy prices

Need to "breathe"

Ironically, the level of storage is such today that they now need to "breathe", that is to say, to have outgoing and incoming movement.

“We will therefore have to empty them a little”, summarized Thierry Trouvé, general manager of GRTgaz, with AFP.

Their level reaches 106 TWh, i.e. nearly a quarter of the gas consumed in France in 2021 (474 ​​TWh).

"The technical constraints of French storage impose on them (...) + breathing + to maintain their performance for the winters to come. A significant drop in the level of filling is therefore to be expected in the weeks to come to respect this constraint", explains GRTgaz in its note.

Stocks could then drop to a level closer to 60%, "it's a significant drop, but which takes place every year", according to Thierry oublie.

"Gas suppliers who reserve storage capacities have a maximum level of quantity of gas not to be exceeded on a certain date, so they must take steps to empty them sufficiently," he said.

“We can expect in the next few weeks that they will take out a little more storage and that they will bring in a little less,” added the general manager.

In France, natural gas is mainly stored in aquifers, a permeable subsoil layer soaked in water.

However, this type of storage needs to be emptied and refilled regularly to maintain good technical performance with gas, particularly in terms of flow.

>> READ ALSO -

 Energy broker, one of the most sought-after professions of the moment

An economy caused by temperatures

While Russian gas represented 17% of the gas consumed in France before the conflict, the country had to resort last year to gas supplies transported by pipeline from Norway and liquefied natural gas (LNG), brought by boat, to fill its reserves almost to 100% before November 1, and participate in the supply of Europe, in particular Germany, which is very dependent on Russian gas.

“France is increasing its role as an entry and transit point for supplying gas to Europe,” notes GRTgaz.

On the strength of these "sustained supplies", French storage was saved thanks to the "mild temperatures until mid-November", which delayed the switching on of the heating, and the efforts at sobriety, which resulted in a National "consumption drop" of 12.8% (in climate-corrected data) between August 1 and January 15.

So much so that GRTgaz considers "very improbable" the "risk of a gas volume deficit" over the rest of the winter in France, even if there persists a "residual risk over a few days (..)" in the event of a concomitance" of great cold and reductions in supplies.