GRTgaz: Algeria force majeure hurts LNG deliveries to southern France

PARIS (Reuters) -- French gas grid operator GRTgaz said a force majeure in Algeria and tensions in the global gas market were reducing deliveries of LNG to southern France.

Deliveries to the Fos-sur-Mer terminal were at about 40 gigawatt-hour (GWh) per day, compared with almost double the 70 GWh per day needed for this period of the year when there is increased demand for power and heating, GRTgaz chief executive Thierry Trouve told journalists on Tuesday.

The force majeure is in place after Algeria's Skikda LNG facility, which is used for deliveries to French and European markets, went into a scheduled maintenance operation, but it should restart very soon, according to a source at Algeria's state energy company Sonatrach.

Sonatrach has delivered four LNG cargoes to its French client in January. The cargoes left Arzew facility in the west of Algeria for Fos-sur-Mer terminal, the source told Reuters on Tuesday.

"The quantities delivered have decreased, but the minimum has been delivered and Sonatrach has respected its contract commitments with the French client," the Sonatrach source said.

Trouve said there was heavy demand for gas for power generation in southern France, due to the cold weather, at about 85 GWh per day.

Tensions in the world gas market, with expected US gas production going to Asia instead of Europe, were exacerbating the problem.

"We are doing everything to have more LNG deliveries by end February," Trouve said.

Reporting by Bate Felix in Paris and Lamine Chikhi in Algiers; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta/Ruth Pitchford

• Most Read
• Most Commented