The plant in the northeastern town of Saint-Avold indeed halted coal production as scheduled earlier this year — but not for long. This week, its workers were back at the controls, transporting coal from storage heaps and refiring furnaces, as part of emergency efforts to keep the heat and electricity on this winter.

Some €5 billion ($5.22bn) has been released for the first steps but the cabinet has not said exactly how much the government will ultimately contribute.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 12.6 million barrels to 419.1 million barrels.

Brent had firmed 70 cents or 0.84% to $83.73 per barrel, WTI climbed 56 cents or 0.72% to $78.76 per barrel.

«Хотел бы особо отметить позицию дружественного нам Китая, который последовательно выступает категорически против односторонних санкций. Надеемся, что КНР продолжит занимать независимую позицию в данном вопросе», – добавил Александр Новак.

With Russia cutting most of its gas supplies to Europe in the fallout over Moscow’s war in Ukraine, the continent is set to delve further into its stockpiles that it has spent months accumulating.

The EU aims to end its reliance on Russian fossil fuels by 2027. For now, Moscow’s move to halt supplies through the main Nord Stream 1 pipeline has led the bloc to increase shipments of Russian seaborne gas by around 50 per cent.

The European Union needs additional funds to decouple from Russian gas and shield companies and households from the current energy crisis,

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the reduction in natural gas pipeline imports from Russia that followed, European countries have reactivated development of previously dormant regasification projects and have started development of new projects.

Qatar, one of the world's largest LNG exporters, has been courted by European countries, including Germany and the UK, in recent months as they seek improved gas supply security amid stubbornly high prices.