Algeria Blocks Spain’s Gas Exports to Morocco Amid Pipeline Dispute

The third Spanish vice-president, Teresa Ribera, recently on a visit to Algiers, failed to convince the Algerian government to renew the Maghreb-Europe (GME) gas pipeline crossing Morocco. "The Algerian government has clearly stated that we cannot sell Algerian gas to Morocco," a source within one of the country’s major electricity companies told El Mundo.

To read: Algeria Halts Gas Pipeline to Spain, Morocco Prepared for Impact

Thus, Spain cannot authorize Morocco to import gas via the same pipeline whose operating contract with Algeria expired on October 31. This closure of the GME has serious repercussions for Spain, dependent on Algeria for gas, and which is reduced to a single pipeline, Medgaz, with a lower capacity (8 billion cubic meters per year) than the GME (13 billion cubic meters per year). The Algerian authorities plan to increase the capacity of Medgaz from 8 to 10.7, or even 16 billion cubic meters, provided that Spain signs long-term purchase contracts.

To read: Algeria Cuts Off Gas Pipeline to Europe Through Morocco Amid Diplomatic Tensions

For Mohammed Haneche, the Algerian ambassador to the EU, King Mohammed VI would be the cause of the non-renewal of the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline. "Although Algeria and Spain expressed their willingness a year ago to negotiate the renewal of the gas pipeline concession contract, Morocco [angry after the entry of Brahim Ghali into Spain] gave no clear indication of its willingness to renew this agreement before mid-August 2021," he said, adding that this attitude of the Moroccan monarch has "led Algeria to consider an alternative solution to continue to honor its contractual commitments with Spain".