France Oil and Gas Business and Trading Information

France is one of the world's largest nuclear power producers
France is a founding member of the European Union (EU) and one of Europe's most important economies. In 2004, France's gross domestic product (GDP) stood at $2.01 trillion, the second-largest in the EU. Economic growth, though, has been unremarkable in recent years, with real GDP growth of only 2.1% in 2004. The lack of significant economic growth has strained France's public finances, and for the fourth consecutive year, France's budget deficit will exceed the limits of the EU Growth and Stability Pact.

Jacques Chirac has been President of France since 1995, leading a coalition of center-right parties. Since 2002, he has ruled in coordination with Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. The two have set upon many reforms of France's economy, including a relaxation of labor market regulations, the privatization of state-owned enterprises, and an overhaul of the public pension scheme. Following the poor showing of the center-right coalition in the March 2004 regional elections, Chirac replaced the heads of several key government ministries and slowed the pace of these reforms. Public employee unions have been the most vocal critics of energy sector liberalization, staging many large demonstrations.

 

France Environment and Pollution

French economy has the third-lowest carbon intensity in the OECD.
France emitted 407 million metric tons (Mmt) of Carbon dioxide in 2002, the fourth-most in Europe. It also consumed 11.0 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) of total energy, the second-largest amount in Europe. On the other hand, the energy intensity of France's economy in 2002 was Well below the average for members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Further, the carbon dioxide intensity of the French economy in 2002 was the third-lowest in the OECD, behind only Switzerland and Sweden, an indication of France's reliance upon nuclear energy.

France has been the victim of several major Oil spills that resulted in severe environmental damage to France's coastline and caused serious economic harm to France's tourism and fishing industries. In response, the French government has taken a proactive approach to preventing marine pollution by establishing an extended ecological zone into the Mediterranean Sea and imposing more stringent conditions on oil tankers.
 
Air pollution, especially in Paris, is still a problem, despite the adoption of measures to mitigate the effects of increased transportation and growing energy consumption from France's transportation sector. By European standards, France's development and use of renewable energy resources has been fairly limited. Market barriers thus far have stifled the use of renewables for electricity and heat production in France.
 
Furthermore, the low cost of nuclear energy has meant that there is little economic justification to develop alternative fuel sources. Finally, there has been some opposition to nuclear power in France by environmentalists, including public protests and demonstrations.

 

France Downstream Processing

In 2004, France's crude Oil refining capacity was 1.95 million bbl/d, the third-largest in Europe. The largest refinery in the country is Total's Gonfreville l'Orcher facility, with a capacity of 343,000 bbl/d. Total controls some 56% of France's refining capacity.
 
France imported 599,400 bbl/d of Petroleum products in 2004, with the largest sources of these imports being the former Soviet Union (27%), Germany (9%), and the United Kingdom (8%). The majority of France's petroleum products consumption is for road transportation, followed by household consumption and air transportation.

 

Natural Gas Reserves and Consumption in France

France imported 97% of its natural gas needs in 2003
At the beginning of 2005, France had about 450 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of proven Natural Gas reserves. France has very little domestic natural gas production; in 2003, the country consumed 1.6 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), with only 3% of that demand met from domestic sources. The most important sources of France's natural gas imports are Norway, Russia, and Algeria. Natural gas is a small component of France's energy mix, representing only 15% of total energy consumption in 2002.

The EU has enacted numerous directives seeking to liberalize European natural gas markets. To date, France has been one of the slowest EU members to implement these directives into national law, though there has been considerable progress of late on this issue. Beginning in July 2004, non-residential customers could freely choose their gas distributor, with this freedom scheduled to extend to all customers by 2007.
 
The French government has made some progress on liberalizing GdF itself; in 2004, it legally changed GdF into a joint stock company. The most significant change caused by this new legal definition was that the French government would no longer guarantee GdF's debt. GdF planned to offer its stock to the public for the first time in 2005, though French law requires that at least 50% of GdF's stock remain held by the French government. France has also begun the process of privatizing its natural gas transport system, also a requirement of EU directives. By the end of 2005, distribution companies should be able to purchase stakes in the parts of the system that they utilize.
Since deregulation began, Total has been the private company with the most success in gaining access to the French market. While most natural gas enters France from the north, Total appears to have concentrated on natural gas customers in the south, where prices are higher and there are greater opportunities for undercuting the tariffs charged by GdF. In 2000, Total purchased Gaz du Sud-Ouest, a small regional gas transportation company in southern France. Total also planned to construct a new natural gas import Pipeline from Spain, and it had a stake in the Medgaz pipeline from Algeria (see below). Foreign operators, such as BP and Ruhrgas, have also made some progress in gaining market share.

 

Pipelines in France

France has natural gas pipeline connections to Norway, Spain, Russia, Netherlands. GdF operates the vast majority of France's domestic Pipeline system. The company operates over 19,000 miles of Natural Gas pipelines in France, with an overall system capacity of 5.9 Bcf/d. The GdF systems covers the entire country, with main trunk lines connecting population centers to the import entry points of Dunkerque, Montoir-de-Bretagne, Fos-Cavaou, Cerville-Velaine, and Taisnieres. GdF also maintains 0.28 Bcf of natural gas storage facilities at strategic locations in the transmission network.
Because of its dependence on natural gas imports, France has extensive pipeline connections with its neighbors. The Franpipe, completed in 1998, links Norway's Draupner platform in the North Sea to the French port of Dunkerque. The 521-mile-long, 1.4-Bcf/d Franpipe was the first pipeline to directly link France with a natural gas field in a foreign country. Analysts predict that Franpipe will eventually supply one-third of France's total natural gas consumption. The Trans-Pyrenean natural gas pipeline, linking Calahorra, Spain to Lacq, France began operations in 1993. The 330-million-cubic-feet-per-day (Mmcf/d) connection allows Spain to import natural gas via France from Norway. France also imports natural gas from Russia through the Cerville-Velaine distribution center in northeast France and from the Netherlands through the Taisnieres entry point.

In October 2004, Total began construction of the 48-Mmcf/d Euskadour natural gas pipeline. The pipeline will connect a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in Bilbao, Spain to southern France. Total expected to finish construction on the Euskadour pipeline by 2006.
The proposed Medgaz natural gas pipeline would link Algeria to France via Spain. Algeria�s Sonatrach (20%) and Spain's Cepsa (20%) are leading the project. Financial issues have delayed initial construction of Medgaz, as the consortium has not yet secured sufficient investments to start the project. However, if completed, Medgaz would have an initial capacity of 775 Mmcf/d.

 

Gaz de France

Introduction
Owned by the French government, Gaz de France (GdF) dominates all Natural Gas activities in the country. Prior to recent reforms (see below), GdF had a legal monopoly on the production, distribution, transportation, and importation of natural gas in the country. In recent years, EU directives have forced member countries to open their natural gas sectors to foreign investors, and GdF has taken advantage of this openness to enter the domestic natural gas markets of other EU countries. As a result, almost one-third of GdF's 15 million customers are outside France. However, because France has been one of the slowest EU countries to open its own markets, there has been some backlash to GdF's foreign ventures, especially from the governments of Italy and Spain.
Gaz de France Profile
An integrated energy utility, present throughout the gas supply chain from exploration and production to customer services, pursuing its growth in Europe.
As Europe's regulatory framework is going through a profound change and energy markets are opening up to competition, Gaz de France has decided to operate as an integrated energy utility, present throughout the gas supply chain from exploration and production to customer services, and to pursue its growth in Europe.
This choice, which is compatible with the new market development conditions, will allow the Group to implement its strategy while complying with European directives.
Gaz de France offers multi-energy packages, and a large gamut of associated services (activities described in �Energy Supply and Services�), while managing and developing its natural gas transmission, storage and distribution infrastructures (activities described in �Infrastructures�).
Committed to sustainable development, Gaz de France is seeking to achieve corporate growth while maintaining its commitment to public service
Gaz de France Key Data
The Group's consolidated net sales totalled 18.13 billion euros, up 8.9% from 2003.
International business accounted for 29% of the Group's total net sales.
Net income Group share reached 1046 millions euros.
Total investements amounted to 1,76 billion euros.
Gaz sales amounted to 66.4 billion cubic meters.
The Group employed a workforce of 38 251 people.

 

Liquefied Natural Gas Trading Industry in France

France has tried to position itself as a European hub for liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports. France is one of Europe's largest consumers of LNG, and the country receives some 25% of its natural gas imports in the form of LNG.
 
Most French LNG imports come from Algeria, with smaller quantities from Nigeria. France currently has two LNG receiving terminals: the 440-Mmcf/d Fos-sur-Mer, located at the Fos Cavaou gas terminal on France's Mediterranean coast, and a 970-Mmcf/d terminal at Montoir-de-Bretagne, on the Atlantic coast.
 
GdF is constructing a new, offshore LNG receiving terminal at Fos Cavaou, and ExxonMobil has also proposed building an LNG import terminal near Fos Cavaou by 2009.

 

Coal Reserves Trading and Coal Consumption Business in France

France has relatively small Coal reserves of 40 million short tons (Mmst). France's coal sector has declined steadily over the past several decades, as cheaper imports have replaced domestic sources. In 2002, France only produced 2.3 Mmst of coal. The state-owned coal monopoly, Charbonnages de France, closed its last production facility in April 2004. There have been some plans by foreign companies to resume coal production in France; in late 2004, ATH, a large British coal producer, announced that it would resume production at the Bertholene coal concession in south-central France by 2006.
Coal has become a less important part of France's energy supply, constituting only 5% of French total energy consumption in 2002. Nuclear power has replaced most of France's coal-fired power plants. Nevertheless, France still consumed 22.9 Mmst of coal in 2002, the seventh-most of the EU's 25 member countries, with the largest sources of France's coal imports coming from South Africa, Australia, and the United States. The few remaining coal-fired power plants represented about half of France's coal consumption in 2002, with most of the remainder consumed by the steel industry.

 

Canadian Natural-Gas Pipelines trading Markets

TransCanada Pipelines is the largest Operator of Natural Gas pipelines in Canada. Its 25,600-mile network transports the bulk of Canada�s natural gas production. Important parts of the TransCanada network include the 13,900-mile, 10.6-Bcf/d Alberta System, the 120-mile, 0.9-Bcf/d British Columbia System, the 8,900-mile, 7.2-Bcf/d Canadian Mainline, and the 600-mile, 3.0-Bcf/d Foothills System.
A consortium of natural gas companies, led by Imperial Oil, plan to build the Mackenzie Valley natural gas Pipeline. The 760-mile, 1.2-Bcf/d pipeline would carry natural gas from inside the Arctic Circle to northern Alberta, where it would flow into the existing natural gas transportation system; there would also be a parallel pipeline to carry NGLs. Canada�s National Energy Board (NEB) scheduled a series of public hearings on the project for 2006, where it would consider the economic and environmental impacts of the project. If the project attains regulatory approval, construction of the system would likely last four years and cost some C$6 billion.

 

Canada- Oil and -Gas-Trading

Canada is the United States� most important trading partner, with over $450 billion worth of goods, services, investments, and financial transfers exchanged between the two countries in 2004. Canada and the U.S. also enjoy an interdependent energy relationship, trading Oil, Natural Gas, Coal, and electricity.
Canada has experienced sustained economic growth during the past several years; its real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a rate of 2.9 percent in 2005, the same as in 2004. Continuing economic recovery in the United States and higher prices for Canada�s natural resource exports have driven Canada�s economic growth in recent years.

Canada has considerable natural resources and is therefore one of the world�s largest producers of energy. In 2003, Canada produced 18.4 quadrillion British Thermal Units (Btu) of total energy, the fifth-largest amount in the world. Of this total, Canada consumed 13.5 quadrillion Btu in 2003. Since 1980, Canada�s total energy production has increased by 80 percent, while its total energy consumption has increased only by 40 percent.
 

 

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