PARIS, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- French energy company ENGIE said it renegotiated its long-term supply contract with one of the leading natural gas suppliers to the European market.
ENGIE said it reached a deal with Norwegian energy company Statoil on long-term gas supply contracts. The French company said the rearrangement better reflects current market rates and, while providing few specifics, the "profound evolution" in the European natural gas arena.
"With this agreement, ENGIE has de-risked its long-term supply contracts by adjusting their pricing to market conditions," Edouard Neviaski, the CEO of ENGIE's global business unit, said in a statement.
State-managed Statoil is the dominant player in a Norwegian oil and gas sector that, outside of Russia, is one of the region's largest suppliers. European countries get about 30 percent of their natural gas from Norwegian suppliers and Statoil's gas represents about 20 percent of ENGIE's supply portfolio.
Norway's government said total natural gas sales soared in October. The European economy grew during the third quarter by 0.3 percent when compared with the previous quarter.
Russia is the main natural gas supplier to Europe, accounting for just over a third of all natural gas supplies and several European countries.
"As a reminder, earlier this year -- in April -- ENGIE and [Russian energy company] Gazprom had also reached an agreement to adapt the price of long-term gas supply contracts," the French company said.
ENGIE is one of the European countries involved in Nord Stream, a Russian natural gas pipeline running through the Baltic Sea to Germany.
