Fuel shipped by ship from Algeria reached 5,400 GW/h in November, 74% less than in the same period in 2021
Algerian LNG carriers avoid Spanish ports. This year, Algeria has stepped on the brake on the shipment by ship of liquefied natural gas (LNG) bound for Spain. The volume of fuel that the country has received through this route has fallen 74% between January and November compared to the same period in 2021, according to the latest data collected by Enags.
Between January and November, Spain has received 5,400 GW/h (gigawatt hours) of Algerian liquefied gas, compared to around 21,100 GW/h in the first eleven months of last year. This is an all-time low. For seven years (the first data published is that of 2016), the entry of Algerian LNG it had never dropped below 10,000 GWh as of November, except for 2020, the year of the pandemic, when demand plummeted in the context of the global economic slowdown.
The collapse occurred at a time of special tension between Spain and Algeria, after the diplomatic turn of the Government of Pedro Sánchez on the situation of the Western Sahara. Despite the fact that the Executive has minimized the impact of the diplomatic conflict with Algiers from the beginning, the distance between the two countries, historical partners in energy matters, reached such a point that the Algerian authorities ordered their banks to freezing of commercial operations with Spain last June.
The slowdown in the flow of Algerian LNG comes against the backdrop of a critical year for Europe, which has been in an unprecedented race to fill its gas reserves in the face of Russia’s threat of a complete supply cutoff. Each country in its own way, all Member States arrived on November 1 with reserves above the 90%Although experts in the sector agree that the problem will come in 2023 and 2024. Well, although Russia has breached contracts and has opened and closed the gas tap at will, at least it has contributed to filling European storage facilities.
In this race, Countries like Malta, Greece or Italy have gained positions against Spain in the reception of LNG from Algeria, taking advantage of the distance between the last two, historical partners in energy matters, according to sources in the sector. The cut in Algerian LNG in Spanish tanks has been offset by an increase in gas from the US, which has floated methane tankers to transport almost 116.200 GWh to Spain until November, compared to just over 49.400 GWh of the previous year, which means un 57% ms.
From Enags they frame this situation in the “international situation” and point out: “Like the surrounding countries, Spain is experiencing a greater diversification of supply sources of LNG”. “We continue to have very important imports through the Algerian gas pipeline (Medgaz), which until November is the second supplier of natural gas in Spain”, the gas company stresses.
LNG is almost 40 euros more expensive
At the end of last month, Spain reported a significant increase in the demand for liquefied natural gas compared to the purchase of gas by tube. LNG, which is transported in a liquid state and is transformed again at destination (a process known as regasification), accounted for 76.4% of the total despite being much more expensive. According to the latest figures from the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) corresponding to the month of August, the price of gas imports per ship stood at 77,7 euros/MWhin front of the 39,3 euros of the gas by pipe.
The main beneficiary of the national appetite for liquefied gas is the United States, a country that, for the first time since records exist, has overtaken Algeria as Spain’s main gas supplier. At the end of November, US ships dominated the 28,5% national demand, above the sum of Algerian ships and gas pipelines, whose share was 23,7%.
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