2023-07-08 09:21:00
Have the major French energy producers learned the lessons of last winter’s crisis? The round table held this Saturday morning as part of the 23rd Aix Economic Meetings seems to demonstrate this. Even if they are not always on the same wavelength.
Catherine MacGregor, the managing director of Engie, and Patrick Pouyanné, the CEO of Totalenergies, thus confronted their points of view with vivacity.
“The gas stocks are full, we are quite calm for the winter”estimated the leader while the president of the oil group in full diversification corrected the shot by stressing that prices remain higher than before the crisis: “There is not enough stock in Europe to cover the winter if it is cold. This means that we will have to bring in liquefied gas from other regions of the world. Last year we diverted 10 % of the world’s liquefied gas, we are the ones who have raised the prices.”
For his part, Luc Rémont, the new CEO of EDF, specified that if last year there was no hydroelectricity due to drought, “we start the summer with full dams”.
The three leaders, who had called in 2022 for energy sobriety, agree to encourage investment in renewable energies. Here again, if the director of Engie underlines the lower cost of electricity in neighboring countries such as Spain where the share of renewables is greater than 50%, the CEO of TotalEnergies estimates “that we must not make believe that it will cost less because the sun is free”.
“We cannot force the consumer to change energy”
His group invests 5 billion in renewables, but will however continue to produce oil, reaffirmed Patrick Pouyanné. “We will continue to produce fossil energy because we cannot force the consumer to change energy and if we produce less, prices will increase. (…) Oil loses 4% of production per year if we don’t invest. We were at 100 million barrels last year and the International Energy Agency announces a need for 102 million this year. So I’m going to produce 101”. *
Luc Rémont for his part, announces that EDF will have to launch “in a sustained and rhythmic scale” operation of several nuclear reactors and return to productivity gains. While Engie is betting on “the alliance between the electron and the molecule”: that of gas, which will have to be made greener, in particular by moving towards a European hydrogen strategy.
A subtle balance to be found in a context of still high prices, while electricity today represents only 20% of global energy consumption.
*To achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and thus fight against global warming, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has indicated that this objective requires no longer investing in any new fossil fuel installations. These energies are mainly responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.
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