French LNG terminals operator Elengy has issued force majeure notices to customers that its three import facilities in France will not be receiving cargoes until October 2 due to a prolonged strike, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Friday.
France is gripped by a nationwide strike over pay and salary negotiations in the energy sector, which has resulted in lower electricity output at French nuclear power plants and other energy facilities in recent days.
The strike has been affecting LNG terminals, too.
Elengy operates the Fos Tonkin and Fos Cavaou LNG terminals on France’s Mediterranean coast and the Montoir-de-Bretagne facility on the Atlantic coast.
All these, plus the Dunkirk terminal, have seen impact from the strikes in recent days. Disruptions at Dunkirk have been minimal.
But the three LNG terminals operated by Elengy will not receive LNG cargoes until at least October 2.
Fos Tonkin and Fos Cavaou LNG terminals were blocked from sending out natural gas on the network to the neighboring countries, which rely on the French imports for part of their gas use. The Montoir-de-Bretagne LNG terminal has seen reduced flows to the neighboring gas network systems, the spokesperson for Elengy told Reuters.
The strike has also blocked loading at the Fos Cavaou terminal, they added.
The reduced LNG arrivals in France kept the Dutch TTF Natural Gas Futures, the benchmark for Europe’s gas trading, stable on Friday morning in Amsterdam, despite the rise in Norwegian pipeline gas flows as facilities wind down planned maintenance.
Europe is filling inventories ahead of the winter, but the rate of filling is lagging behind last year’s levels after a cold winter sapped more volumes from reserves.
This summer, LNG demand in Asia has been tepid, allowing Europe to draw a lot of U.S. LNG cargoes. The weakness in Asian LNG demand has been welcome news for Europe as the EU scrambles to fill up inventories going into the winter.
By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com
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