The gas consumption of large industrial companies drops by 30%, according to Engie

The consumption of “gas-intensive” industrialists in Europe, that is, the large consumers of gas, has fallen in recent weeks by 30% compared to last year, under the effect of rising prices, indicated this Wednesday the Chairman of Engie, Jean-Pierre. Clamadieu.

“Price increases have a very strong impact on manufacturers and unfortunately in recent weeks in Europe we have seen a significant reduction in the consumption of large gas-intensive industrialists, large consumers of gas”, stressed Mr. Clamadieu, who spoke into the microphone from France. Bury.

All suppliers combined, the trend seen in the markets is “30% reduction” compared to last year and 15% in France, “which is good news for the gas equation at the end of the year, but bad news for European industry,” explained the president of France’s leading gas supplier, former GDF Suez.

Bad news for European industry

“Industrialists see a price signal that leads them to close their factories, to transfer production to other regions of the world,” he continued, specifying that in France, the reduction in gas consumption by large industrialists amounts to 15%. .

When asked about possible gas shortages this winter, Mr Clamadieu underscored the “major diversification efforts” made to fill gas reserves.

“We are much better prepared than we feared 3 or 4 months ago,” he said, referring to the case of France where reserves are “95-96% full” and will be “maximum” in a few weeks, while Europe is ” almost” to 90%.

“One of the reasons we are getting there is that we have massively increased arrivals of LNG carriers carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG),” with now “30 or 40 ships a week,” versus “10 LNG carriers in Europe, a year ago,” he detailed.

For the president of Engie, it will be necessary to manage “these storages very carefully to avoid (…) the cold wave at the end of winter.” He recommends in particular a “10% reduction in gas consumption.”

“The essential issue is the reduction of the temperature (heating) of homes and tertiary buildings (…) One degree is a 7% saving in gas consumption in France,” he specified.