France ready for Gazprom's 'pretext' to switch off gas, says minister

Gazprom is using a mere excuse to switch off natural gas deliveries to its French contractor, the energy minister in Paris said on Wednesday, but added that the country had anticipated the loss of supply.
 

"As we anticipated, Russia is using gas as a weapon of war and is using Engie's way of applying the contracts as a pretext to further reduce French supplies," Agnes Pannier-Runacher said in an overnight statement.

The comments came hours after Russia's Gazprom announced that from Thursday it would fully suspend gas deliveries to Engie, a French utility, citing a dispute over payments. The move will deepen concerns about Europe's winter energy supply.

"France has been preparing for this scenario since the spring ...," the French minister said, adding that the country had already reduced its exposure to Russian gas imports to 9% from roughly the double that amount before the invasion of Ukraine.

Engie declined to comment.

Asked about Gazprom's announcement, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne late on Tuesday said Engie had other sources of supply.

She gave no details.

Households would not be cut off from the gas grid in case of shortages, but businesses, which Paris is urging to help save energy amid the current crisis, could face such a risk, she said.

Separately, Russia halted gas supplies via the major Nord Stream 1 pipeline to European countries on Wednesday European governments fear that further restrictions to gas supplies would heighten an energy crunch that has already sent wholesale gas prices soaring more than 400% since last August.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, Camille Raynaud and Jean Terzian; Writing by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Bradley Perrett)