Demand for Russian gas in France continues to grow
A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee of Gazprom, and Isabelle Kocher, CEO of ENGIE, took place in St. Petersburg today.
Through their respective representants, Gazprom and ENGIE discussed current Russian gas supplies to France. By the end of 2018, Gazprom increased gas exports to the Republic on 5.4% compared with 2017 – to 12.9 billion cubic meters. At the beginning of 2019, growth continues: from January 1 to March 14, 2019, Gazprom delivered an estimated 2,5 billion cubic meters of gas, an increase of 1,9% per cent against the same period of 2018.
The meeting touched upon the prospects for further sci-tech cooperation and collaboration in the area of culture.
The parties paid particular attention to the ongoing implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project.
Background
France's ENGIE (prior to 2015 – GDF SUEZ) specializes in natural gas marketing as well as power generation projects. ENGIE owns the largest gas transmission network in Europe and is the biggest UGS facility operator in Europe in terms of capacities.
ENGIE and Gazprom cooperate in gas supply and transmission. The companies also interact in the sci-tech development and personnel training areas, as well as implement joint cultural projects.
Nord Stream 2 is the construction project for a gas pipeline with the annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters from Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea. In 2017, Nord Stream 2 AG, ENGIE S.A., OMV AG, Royal Dutch Shell plc, Uniper SE, and Wintershall Holding GmbH signed the financing agreements for the Nord Stream 2 project.