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Decree No. 2006 - 1034 21 August 2006 Regarding Access To The Underground Storage Of Natural Gas

Original Language Title: Décret n° 2006-1034 du 21 août 2006 relatif à l'accès aux stockages souterrains de gaz naturel

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INDUSTRIE , ECONOMIE , COMBUSTIBLE GAS , NATURAL GAS , STOCKING SOUTERRAIN , STOCKING CAPACITY , USE , CAPACITY ATTRIBUTION , REPARTITION , CAPACITY ALLOCATION , DETENTION , DECLARATION


JORF n°194 of 23 August 2006 page 12370
text No. 8



Decree No. 2006-1034 of 21 August 2006 on access to underground storage of natural gas

NOR: INDI0608021D ELI: https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/eli/decret/2006/8/21/INDI0608021D/jo/texte
Alias: https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/eli/decret/2006/8/21/2006-1034/jo/texte


The Prime Minister,
On the report of the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry,
Considering Directive No. 2004/67/EC of 26 April 2004 on measures to ensure the security of the supply of natural gas;
In light of Act No. 2003-8 of 3 January 2003 on gas and electricity markets and the public energy service, including articles 30-1 to 30-6;
In view of Decree No. 2004-250 of 19 March 2004 on the authorization to supply gas;
Considering Decree No. 2004-251 of 19 March 2004 on public service obligations in the gas sector;
Considering Decree No. 2005-877 of 29 July 2005 on exemptions for access to certain gas infrastructure;
Having regard to the opinion of the Higher Council of Electricity and Gas of 11 April 2006;
The State Council (section of public works) heard,
Decrete:

  • Chapter 1: General principles of storage use Article 1


    For the purposes of this decree, a useful volume of storage within an underground storage site is defined by a storage capacity with a welding flow and injection flow; by customer, a consumer who has actually entered into one or more contracts for the supply, for a specified period, of a gas consumption site connected to a transportation or distribution network.

    Article 2


    Access to the underground storage of natural gas organized by this decree shall be exercised subject to the security, environmental and technical constraints of the use of such storages.

    Article 3


    The use of underground natural gas storage is primarily open to transport network managers and natural gas underground storage operators for the proper operation and balancing of transport networks connected to these storages.
    The remaining storage capacity, which is open under the conditions provided for in Article 5, is allocated to suppliers authorized under Decree No. 2004-250 of 19 March 2004 referred to above or to their agents in order to meet, as a matter of priority, the gas requirements:
    1. Domestic customers including households residing in a collectively heated residential building;
    2. Other clients when they carry out missions of general interest;
    3. Customers who have not contractually accepted a switchable supply;
    4. Linked to other public service obligations under section 16 of Act No. 2003-8 of 3 January 2003, including the provision of last appeal;
    5. Customers who have contractually accepted a switchable supply;
    6. Resulting from natural gas transit contracts concluded before 1 July 2004;
    7. As a result of bilateral agreements concluded by France with a Member State of the European Community or a Member State of the European Free Trade Association.

    Article 4


    When a supplier reserves storage capacities pursuant to sections 3 and 14, the transport network manager to whom the storage is connected assigns, upon request, the firm input and output capacities to the connection point between the transport network and the storage site corresponding to the firm injection and welding capacities it has reserved, within the limits of the physical constraints of the transport network.
    In the event of congestion, the transport network manager distributes the available capacities at the point of connection between the transport network and storage sites in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner.

  • Chapter 2: Determination and attribution of access rights to storage capacity Article 5


    Transport network managers and public distribution networks affect any end-customer connected to their network a consumption profile determined according to the characteristics of their consumption. They communicate to each supplier the consumer profile of their customers. The latter makes it known to its customers who ask for their consumption profile. Network managers make public the method of assigning consumer profiles to end customers.
    Each consumption profile is associated with a unitary storage right calculated for an annual reference consumption of 1 GWh, expressed in useful volume and advanced welding flow.
    A Minister of Energy Order sets out the different consumption patterns and defines the corresponding unit storage rights.
    The right of storage corresponding to a customer is the product of its annual reference consumption, as indicated by the network manager to whom it is connected, by the unitary right corresponding to its consumption profile.
    Subject to the provisions of Article 9, the right of access to the storage capacity of a supplier is equal, for each of the balancing areas determined in the order provided for in Article 2 of Decree No. 2005-607 of 29 May 2005 on the definition of the balancing zones of natural gas transmission networks, to the sum of the storage rights of the customers that the supplier supplies and that are located in that area.

    Article 6


    Each supplier wishing to reserve storage capacity to supply the customers referred to in Article 3 shall forward its application to an underground natural gas storage operator. This request includes, for each balancing area, the following:
    - access rights to the storage capacity available to it, based on data provided by network managers;
    - the level of storage capacity he wishes to reserve.
    These capabilities are attributed by natural gas storage operators in compliance with the allocation regulations defined in Article 10 of this Decree.
    Each supplier simultaneously communicates to the Minister of Energy a statement that includes, by balancing zone, the following information:
    - the annual reference consumption of all its customers referred to in Article 3 by consumption profile, as indicated by the network managers to whom they are connected;
    - the level of storage capacity it wishes to reserve to supply all its customers mentioned in Article 3;
    - the share of the estimated annual consumption of each category of customers mentioned in section 3 in the estimated annual consumption of all of these customers.
    Underground natural gas storage operators provide each month to the Minister responsible for energy, for each supplier or agent and by storage or storage grouping, the reserved capabilities for customers mentioned in section 3 and the level of stock on the last day of the previous month.

    Article 7


    Any supplier may transfer its right of access to storage capacity to its own supplier. He then informed the minister responsible for energy.

  • Chapter 3: Distribution of storage capacity Article 8


    After the storage capacity resulting from storage rights defined in accordance with Article 5 has been allocated, any supplier may reserve, if applicable beyond its rights, the storage capacity corresponding to unused rights that are still available. These capacities are said to be restitutable. An Energy Minister's order determines, as appropriate, the modalities for determining these capabilities.
    Each underground natural gas storage operator makes public every week the available storage capacity and the level of gas stocks in the storage sites it operates.
    These capabilities are reassigned as a priority and as a need to meet the rights of access to supplier storage capabilities defined in Article 5.
    Reassignable capacity reassignment rules are specified by the underground storage operator, in the regulation setting the conditions for the allocation of storage capacity provided for in Article 10.
    The natural gas underground storage operator shall inform the Minister responsible for Energy of the reassignment of capabilities under this section.

    Article 9


    When the capacity marketed by an underground natural gas storage operator is no longer sufficient to respond to requests for the availability of power supplies for customers referred to in section 3, the operator shall promptly inform the Minister responsible for energy.
    As a precautionary measure, the storage operator reduces the reserved storage capacity of each supplier in proportion to the useful volumes reserved, taking into account the order of priority established for meeting the needs listed in Article 3.
    In the case of a shortage of all the storage capacities of the underground storage operators of natural gas, supplier rights are reduced as necessary by ministerial order so that the sum of the storage fees allocated in the useful volume and welding flow is equal to the available capacities once the requirements defined in the first paragraph of Article 3.

  • Chapter 4: Allocation of storage capacity Article 10


    Each underground natural gas storage operator that operates at least two storage sites shall submit to the Minister responsible for Energy, within three months of the issuance of this Order, a draft regulation setting out the conditions for the allocation of storage capacity taking into account their physical availability. This regulation must allow any supplier to reserve capabilities in storages or storage groups existing in the balancing area where its customers are located, under conditions to meet their needs.
    If the Minister for Energy considers that this proposed regulation does not achieve the objective set out in the first paragraph, or that its application may affect the fluidity or security of supply of the gas market, the Minister requests the natural gas underground storage operator to modify it. The Minister has a one-month deadline to submit a new proposal to the Minister for Energy.
    Each storage manager makes its allocation rules public.

  • Chapter 5: Reporting and Detaining Supplier Inventory Article 11


    To meet the obligations of continuity of supply imposed from November 1 to March 31 of each year, as defined in section 4 of the above-mentioned Decree No. 2004-251 of March 19, 2004, any supplier is required to estimate the consumption of its customers according to their consumption profiles and the extreme cold constraints imposed by the Minister responsible for energy.

    Article 12


    Each supplier that supplies customers referred to in section 3 shall address to the Minister of Energy, no later than May 1 of each year, a statement stating that it is in a position to ensure the supply of its customers under the conditions set out in section 4 of the above-mentioned Decree No. 2004-251 of March 19, 2004. This statement includes, by balancing zone and by consumption profile, elements to assess the consumption of its customers, its access to storage capacity and their use, its procurement policy and other modulation instruments available to it, in accordance with the provisions of a decree of the Minister responsible for energy.
    In light of this statement, the Minister for Energy may, within three months of receipt of the declaration, require the supplier to establish stocks within the limits of the effective storage volume corresponding to its right of access to storage capacity. These stocks must be established before October 31 of the year in which the declaration was filed.

    Article 13


    As of November 1st of each year, the gas volumes stored by a supplier may not be less than 85% of the payload storage fees, as defined in section 5 of this Order, its domestic customers, including households residing in a collectively heated housing building, and other customers providing missions of general interest.

  • Chapter 6: Access to surplus storage capacity Article 14


    When the priority needs listed in Article 3 are met, the storage capacity still available is marketed in transparent and non-discriminatory conditions.
    The ability to use these capabilities is guaranteed until March 31 following the signing of the contract for access to storage capabilities.

    Article 15


    The use of storage capacities resulting from the modification of existing facilities or the commissioning of new facilities that remain available once the storage needs defined in Article 3 are met may be authorized by derogation from the storage access rules set out in Articles 3, 5, 6, 8 and 10, under the conditions provided for in the above-mentioned Decree of 29 July 2005.

  • Chapter 7: Miscellaneous provisions Article 16


    The civil servants and agents mentioned in I of Article 33 of Act No. 2000-108 of 10 February 2000 on the modernization and development of the public service of electricity are responsible for monitoring compliance with the provisions of this decree.

    Article 17


    The lack of knowledge of the provisions of Article 12 is punishable under the second paragraph of Article 30-2 of the Act of 3 January 2003 referred to above.

    Article 18


    The Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry and the Minister Delegate to Industry are responsible, each with respect to it, for the execution of this Order, to be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.


Done in Paris, August 21, 2006.


Dominique de Villepin


By the Prime Minister:


Minister of Economy,

finance and industry,

Thierry Breton

Minister Delegate to Industry,

François Loos


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