The European Commission Thursday opened an in-depth antitrust probe into French state-controlled natural gas operator Gaz de France (1020848.FR) over suspicion the company is restricting gas supplies in France.
The commission suspects Gaz de France broke European antitrust law by preventing competition on downstream supply markets for natural gas in France through "a combination of long-term reservation of transport capacity and a network of import agreements, as well as through underinvestment in import infrastructure capacity," the commission said.
The case stems from information gathered during raids at GdF's premises in 2006.