Fluxys declares Force Majeure at Dunkirk LNG Hub due to Strike by French Workers

Fluxys, the operator of the Dunkirk LNG Terminal, declared force majeure on the site Wednesday until the early morning hours of October 3. The strike by French national unions is expected to affect delivery capacity for at least two days.

Dunkirk's LNG terminal is Europe's second-largest and only directly connected to Belgium and France. It supplies about 20% of the annual gas requirements for both countries.

In a bulletin, the operator announced that the Dunkirk terminal's delivery capacity will be cut to 44 gigawatt-hours on October 1, and 48 GWh by October 2. Force majeure is in effect until 0359 GMT, October 3.

All four French LNG terminals are affected by the national strike, including those operated by Elengy. They are all under force majeure until Oct. 2.

The union representatives have stated that they will continue to blockade the roads until their demands are met.

France is Europe's 4th largest gas importer. A large portion of the supply is sent to neighboring countries. Since 2022, when Russian gas flowing to the European Union after the invasion of Ukraine was cut off, its exports have increased.

In the first eight-month period of this year, it was also Europe's biggest importer of Russian gas. Elengy's Montoir Terminal on the West Coast receives a significant amount of LNG. (Reporting and editing by Forrest Crellin, Jan Harvey)

(source: Reuters)