In a letter, the leaders of major energy companies in France issued a terrible warning about the energy crisis, calling on people and businesses to limit energy consumption immediately. For nearly a year, Europe has been gripped by a major fossil fuel energy crisis, exacerbated by Russia’s gradual squeezing of gas supplies to the bloc, which is fuel-hungry to exert political pressure. Europe is heavily dependent on Russia for exports of fossil fuels, especially natural gas.
In an open letter published in the weekly Journal du Dimanche, the CEOs of Engie, EDF and Total wrote: “We need to work collectively to reduce consumption in order to regain room for maneuver.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the EU and Moscow grew even more, with Vladimir Putin cutting off gas supplies to several countries.
The EU, meanwhile, has promised to cut Russian gas imports by two-thirds by the end of the year and has also imposed sanctions on Moscow’s coal and oil exports.
As a result of this sharp drop in energy exports from Russia, Catherine McGregor of Engie, Jean-Bernard Levy of EDF and Patrick Puyan of TotalEnergies signed a letter warning of another energy crisis looming this winter.
On Thursday, French Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne told the country she wanted to fill her gas storage facilities by early fall, which are currently about 59 percent full.
Meanwhile, French media reported in March that the Macron government planned to increase its LNG storage capacity with the help of TotalEnergies, after the United States said it was ready to increase supplies to Europe.
In the letter, energy officials wrote: “Taking action as soon as this summer will allow us to be better prepared early next winter, especially to preserve our gas reserves.”
They also stressed the importance of making “immediate, collective and massive” efforts to reduce energy consumption.
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