https://www.naturalgasintel.com/dunkerque-lng-restarts-but-strikes-continue-at-other-french-lng-import-terminals/

Operations restarted at the Dunkerque LNG import terminal in Western France on Friday more than a week after labor strikes brought flows from the facility to a minimum.?

Workers at the terminal on Thursday decided to end a strike at the plant that started March 7, a Fluxys spokesperson told NGI. The Brussels-based company operates the 9.6 million metric tons/year (mmty) plant.?

Strikes at Dunkerque had brought sendout from the terminal to a minimum, closed the jetty for vessel unloading and stopped truck loading. Fluxys said Friday that it has resumed gas deliveries in line with quantities nominated by suppliers.?

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Kpler vessel-tracking data showed Friday that the Fedor Litke liquefied natural gas tanker was docked at Dunkerque with a cargo from Russia’s Yamal LNG facility. The last time a vessel discharged at Dunkerque was on March 5.?

Another five vessels are scheduled to arrive at the facility through the end of the month, including two from Corpus Christi LNG, two from Sabine Pass LNG and one from Calcasieu Pass LNG in the United States. France was?Europe’s top LNG importer?last year, where most supplies came from the United States.?

A spokesperson for Elengy, which operates the Fos Cavaou, Fos Tonkin and Montoir-de-Bretagne LNG import terminals in the country, told NGI that operations are still shut down due to strikes that were extended to March 21. Those are the country’s only other LNG import terminals. They have a combined import capacity of 17.2 mmty.?

The?work stoppages?have forced vessels to divert to other European ports and have forced France to lean on its storage inventories.?

However, the strikes have failed to move gas prices in Europe, which have declined in recent days amid a broader global energy selloff, warmer weather and strong LNG imports elsewhere on the continent.?

Labor unions have staunchly opposed the government’s plan to raise the retirement age in France from 62 to 64. French President Emmanuel Macron decided Thursday to use constitutional powers to enact the reform bill and bypass a vote in the National Assembly. The French Senate adopted the measure, but a vote in favor wasn’t guaranteed in the lower chamber.?

The General Confederation of Labor, which represents workers across various sectors and organized strikes at the import terminals, has called for more protests and work stoppages next week in response to Macron’s decision.?