It fills in the summer to empty in the winter

Compressors, control room, equipment processing and counting of gas, and, in total, 55 employees: GDF Suez of Gournay, near Compiègne, site facilities are for the less discrete. But do not rely. The value of the site is not in area but 700 metres below, in an underground tank of about 30 square kilometres, where stored approximately 1.2 billion metres cubic gas, equivalent to the cumulative annual consumption of Lille, Roubaix and Tourcoing.

Modest in appearance, this type of site is today of strategic importance for GDF Suez for the Government. Early evening yesterday, the Manager of the French gas transportation network, GRTGaz, referred to a "quasi-interruption of the arrival of natural gas to Obergailbach, in Moselle, the point of entry of gas of Russian origin on its transportation network". But facilities such as those of Gournay allow one another and others to remain serene, even though a wave of cold affects Europe. "The France gas supply is not threatened", so said yesterday Jean-Louis Borloo, Minister of energy and sustainable development.

In fact, the France has, according to the Department, with a capacity of 11.7 billion cubic metres, representing a little gas storage more than a quarter of French consumption. In most parts of the territory, the stocks were filled with up to 65 Monday, according to the association of European operators of gas (GSE). A high level representing 80 days of normal use.

This situation is not linked to a particular caution of GDF Suez. The original storage sites have been built to meet seasonal demand. It fills in the summer to empty in the winter. "In France, consumption is 5 to 6 times greater in winter than in summer." "It takes 120 to 180 days to fill a large storage site", explained Jean-Marc Leroy, Director of infrastructure.

Diverse suppliers

The flow of the facilities is uneven. In aquifers sites such as that of Gournay, it stores the gas in porous rock which contained the original water. For technical reasons, the preserved volumes are important but low filling flow. Storage in layers of salt (salt cavity) sites offer a better rate while being smaller. They give flexibility to the system. In total, GDF Suez peak flow amounted to 200 million cubic metres per day in France.

To avoid an interruption of supply, the France can also rely on its other suppliers. The Russia represents less than 15 of imports of natural gas from GDF Suez, behind the Norway and the Netherlands. This diversification of partners double appeal increased liquefied natural gas (LNG). The French giant is the third world importer of LNG in the world and its contracts long-term to now include more than 20. To secure its supply, the Group finally seeks to develop in the exploration-production. An area in which it plans to invest almost EUR 5 billion over the period 2008-2010.

In this context, GDF Suez has the means to wait. For the group, this margin of manoeuvre is a legal obligation. "The French law imposes on a gas supplier to be able to resist a break from its main source of supply for a period of six months," said Thierry Bros, Société Générale. Sufficient time to pass the Cape of the crisis of Russian gas.