Edison CEO says EDF has paused stake sale plan as Qatar LNG uncertainty persists

By Francesca Landini

MILAN, Oct 14 (Reuters) - France's EDF has put plans to sell a stake in its Italian subsidiary Edison on hold due to uncertainty over gas supplies from Qatar, Edison's chief executive said on Wednesday, adding that the process could resume early next year.

The prolonged conflict between the United States and Iran has disrupted energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, where around one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies passed before the war.  

In its last official notice, QatarEnergy said it would not deliver cargoes to Edison until at least the first half of December. Edison has been forced to replace Qatari supply, which accounted for around 40% of the group's portfolio, since April, with CEO Nicola Monti saying it had mostly been buying US LNG on the spot market. 

"At the moment, neither we nor, it seems, QatarEnergy are in a position to make longer-term forecasts. We hope deliveries can resume at the beginning of next year, but we have no visibility at this stage," Monti said at an energy conference organised by Italian publisher RCS.

EDF confirmed that, given market conditions, the launch of the operation has been postponed.

The French group has for months been studying an IPO or the sale of a minority stake in Edison to investors as it seeks to raise funds to finance the construction of new reactors and maintain its ageing domestic fleet.

As obstacles to the transaction emerged, EDF turned to the United States, where it sold its renewable power assets for $4.2 billion.

"We are ready to resume the (stake sale) process... I expect we will restart it next year, once there is greater clarity in the markets, particularly over the situation in the Gulf," Monti said.

The Edison CEO said that the company was not interested in terminating its 25-year contract with QatarEnergy, which it signed in 2009 for the annual supply of 6.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

"Relations with QatarEnergy are excellent... we are therefore keen to understand when discussions can resume and how the contract might be extended for several more years." 

(Additional reporting by Forrest Crellin in Paris; editing by Gianluca Semeraro, Giulia Segreti, Kirsten Donovan)