Russia’s Gazprom has announced that it will fully suspend natural gas deliveries to French utility Engie starting from 1 September 2022, citing lack of payment amid a dispute over contracts. According to the Russian group, Engie has been notified about the complete suspension of gas supplies starting from September until Gazprom receives all payments for gas in full.
France’s energy regulator, the Commission de Regulation de l’Energie (CRE), replied by stating that France will have sufficient gas supplies to get through the coming winter, even if it might need to import electricity at times. The regulator also added that the country will have filled its gas storage facilities to 100% by the end of September or early October.
Europe is already on edge as Gazprom is shutting off the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to Germany from 31 August to 2 September 2022 citing maintenance, after already reducing the pipeline’s supply to only 20% of its capacity in July 2022.