President Emmanuel Macron said France will receive liquefied natural gas from Qatar during the winter months and will work to lower fuel transport costs from the Persian Gulf as it seeks to curb soaring energy prices.
France will get the equivalent of 2 terawatt-hours of LNG per month during the winter, Macron told reporters on Wednesday in Doha as part of agreements reached in the region. That’s roughly 7% of the nation’s average monthly gas use.
Getting the fuel to French consumers out of Qatar may prove considerably harder than securing it on paper. The Strait of Hormuz, the main route for the supply remains heavily disrupted because of the US-Iran war, with gas volumes way below normal.
Oil and gas prices have surged in Europe in recent months as attacks on vessels around the strait curbed shipments and boosted insurance costs. Dwindling stockpiles and fears of shortages have boosted living costs in France and across much of the globe, with related protests in Paris and other cities turning violent in recent days.
The first LNG vessel sent by Qatar toward Europe since the war began is currently en route to Poland, underscoring the difficulties the region’s energy companies face in actually getting supplies from the world’s second biggest exporter after the US.
France’s gas inventories, which were 87.5% full as of Monday, contained 108.4 terawatt-hours of the fuel. That’s down from a five-year seasonal average of 96%, but in line with EU’s storage targets. The gap with normal levels is much smaller than in Europe’s biggest economy, Germany, as France has been using state tools to encourage gas stockpiling.
To cut transport costs for hydrocarbons, France is working on improving safety for some tankers, as well as developing a mechanism that would help insure some ships operating in the area, Macron said, without providing further details.
France’s deal with Qatar follows other accords a day earlier where the government secured commitments from three Middle Eastern producers to supply more diesel in the coming months.
The French government will also work on upgrades of the Rafale fighter jet with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Macron said. Deals on new radars, missiles and armored vehicles were also reached, he added, without elaborating.
source: rigzone.com