The French energy regulator (CRE) has fined Equinor 4 million euros for two cases of violations of REMIT* in connection with the booking of annual gas transmission capacity, one in 2019 and one in 2020. Equinor will appeal the decision.
The case concerns the booking of annual gas transmission capacity in capacity auctions back in 2019 and 2020 related to Pirineos (PIR), which is the connection point between the French and Spanish French gas transmission networks. CRE assumes that Equinor has collaborated withDanish Commoditiesin the first round of the same annual gas capacity auctions by reserving more than the maximum capacity volume offered for sale. Danske Commodities has been fined EUR 8 million and will appeal the decision.
Irene Rummelhoff, Executive Vice President, Marketing, Midstream and Processing at Equinor
Photo: Arne Reidar Mortensen / Equinor
'Compliance with market regulation is fundamental at Equinor, and we have standards and procedures in place to ensure that we at all times comply with applicable market regulation and rules for market conduct in the markets in which we operate. We have no evidence that collusion has taken place and therefore disagree with the decision from CRE. We will therefore appeal the decision', says Irene Rummelhoff, Executive Vice President for Marketing, Midstream and Processing at Equinor.
Since Equinor's acquisition of Danske Commodities, compliance with market regulation has consisted of both information barriers in systems and organizational setup and training, in addition to follow-up by separate units for compliance with market regulation in the two companies.
Equinor maintains that Equinor and Danske Commodities acted independently of each other, and that Equinor booked capacity solely to retain access to the Spanish capacity booking platform and thereby secure access to the Spanish gas market.
Equinor will appeal the case to the Conseil d'État, the highest court in France for hearing cases involving public administration.
*Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency
Source: Equinor
