Doris Leblond
OGJ correspondent
PARIS, Nov. 8 -- Although only 112 out of 530,000 consumers in France's liberalized natural gas market have switched from historic suppliers to others since the market was opened to competition in 2000, Energy Regulatory Commission Pres. Jean Syrota said it was "sufficient indication" that the opening of markets was occurring "satisfactorily."
He said, "The criteria was to check that competition was working smoothly. Indeed, no incident was brought to our attention."
Since July 1, about 70% of the market, based on volume, has opened to competition, including industrial and professional clients. In 2007, all of the market is to be open.
Over the last 4 months, 59 sites have switched to another supplier, mainly in the northern and eastern border areas of France, near where gas pipelines enter the market. In the south and southwest, meanwhile, there is little spare gas available for competition.
The next stages in the liberalization process, Syrota said, will be the unbundling of transportation and distribution networks as well as the establishment of independent managers for each sector.
