French gas stocks at 71.3% as prices rise

France's natural gas storage was 71.3 percent full as winter approached, a level the country's energy regulator described as relatively reassuring, while European gas prices rose.

Emmanuelle Wargon, president of France's CRE energy commission, told RMC radio Wednesday that the government wanted stocks to reach 85 percent of capacity by the start of winter. She said companies had committed to filling storage and that officials remained vigilant.

France imports 95 percent of its gas needs and can rely on a direct pipeline from Norway, but Wargon said the country remained exposed to market price rises.

The Dutch TTF contract for October deliveries, the benchmark for European gas, reached 75.33 euros per megawatt-hour on Wednesday, its highest level since January 2023. Wargon said the war in Iran was pushing prices higher and could raise gas bills for millions of French households.