The French government has announced that it will freeze gas prices for households until the end of the year, extending the limit into the new heating season.
The government froze prices in October of last year.
Consumers can still count on stable gas prices as the state will cover the difference up to the market price until the end of 2022, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne stated on Thursday.
The government has also limited the increase in electricity prices this year to four percent, which will cost the budget billions of euros.
France is less dependent on Russian natural gas than other European countries, Borne said. Storage facilities should be nearly full by autumn, the Prime Minister emphasized.
Next year, the government plans to build a new floating terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Gas has not been arriving in France via pipeline from Germany for a week, the network operator GRTgaz said last Friday. However, imports have already fallen by 60 percent since the beginning of the year.
