Algeria Cuts Natural Gas Supply to Spain by 25% Amid Diplomatic Tensions

Since the beginning of the crisis opened after Spain’s change of position on the Sahara announced on March 14, Algeria has gradually reduced the amount of gas supplied to Spain. Between April 7 and 9, Algeria sent between 324.2 and 334.2 GWh/day of gas via Medgaz, an amount close to those recorded in January and February. On May 1, 234 GWh/day of gas arrived in Spain from Algeria, compared to 312 GWh/day recorded on March 14, reports El Economista.

This amount of gas that arrived in Spain at the beginning of this month of May is lower than that recorded during the same period of 2021. According to industry sources, this reduction in the amount of gas from Algeria is due to the normal flow of demand, however, noting that it is unusual given that the European Commission is trying to impose 80% storage levels on all European countries.

To read: Algeria Cuts Gas Supply to Spain, Citing Technical Issues Amid Energy Tensions

The expansion of the Medgaz capacity, which was to be finalized since January, has been put on hold due to tensions between the two countries. Since the closure of the Maghreb-Europe pipeline through Morocco last October, Algeria has committed to continue to meet all Spanish gas demand via Medgaz, threatening to break its contract if Spain supplied its gas to Morocco.

Spain has ended up reducing its dependence on Algeria, making the United States its main supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with 45% of total imports compared to only 22% for Algeria. In addition, Spain has agreed to help Morocco transport gas to its territory via the GME in the reverse direction. This is the LNG that Morocco wants to buy on the international market and have it transformed in the regasification plants in Spain before sending it via this pipeline.