Gaz de France (GDF), which was partly privatised in July and is currently going through further privatization processes, said it needed the rise to cover a significant increase in supply costs due to an exceptional 60% upturn in the price of oil products over the first nine months of the year, according to Platts.
However, industry insiders had not expected the French authorities to agree to the full increase, instead it was expected that a more modest compromise increase would be reached. The increase in gas prices will apply from the start of November.
While GDF has got its way on the general price hike, it has also had to agree to improve its rebate to households using gas for heating from 30% to 45%. As a result users in this category should only experience an average price rise of 3.8%.
