Natural Gas in France

In the days following the Liberation of France, after the energy industry nationalization law was passed, in 1946, and Gaz de France (GDF) was created as result; the sale of natural gas on the national territory became a state monopoly. This lasted during the entire second half the twentieth century. Distributed by GDF via a network covering 95% of the territory and by Local Distribution Companies (Gaz de Bordeaux, Gaz de Strasbourg, etc.) for the remaining 5%, Natural Gas attracted substantial investments in methane terminals, storage facilities, gas pipelines and the distribution grid, thus connecting some 10,000 towns and cities to date.

In accordance with the European directives of 22 June 1998 and 26 June 2003, the French market began opening up to competition gradually in 2000, in successive steps :

In defining common rules for the domestic natural gas markets, the objective of the European Union was to promote fair competition, while guaranteeing security of supply. Thus:

      • Shipping and distribution activities remained in a scope regulated by public authorities, which, in practice, guaranteed new suppliers access to the grid, without distortions or discriminatory conditions.
      • Gas production and supply activities became part of a competitive market, in order to give consumers the freedom to choose their natural gas supplier.

After about ten years of gradual market liberalization, there are now several tens of suppliers in France, every single one of them focusing on distribution of gas through the distribution grid serving the ¼ of French towns that are connected to it. As a result they are sidelining the remaining ¾ of towns because the investments required to connect them to the grid would be too high.

Today, big industrial consumers and towns that are too far from the grid, and yet wish to use natural gas, can turn to Axegaz T&T for custom-made solutions so they too can benefit from the advantages of LNG.

Axegaz T&T will meet your expectations !