Algeria has recovered in the month of September the number one supplier of gas natural from Spainto the detriment of the United States, which had been erected since last January month after month in the maximum supplier to the country.
According to data from the latest Enagás Statistical Bulletin, the consumption of natural gas from Algeria atreached 8,931 gigawatt hours (GWh) in September, 25.4% of the total supply. Of these, 7,962 GWh arrived by tube (Medgaz), while 969 GWh did so by methane tanker (LNG).
The United States was the second country in the origin of the gas consumed in Spain this past September, with 6,012 GWh, 17.1% of the total.
However, the American giant It remains by far the first supplier of natural gas in the country so far in 2022, with a record figure of 102,694 GWh, 30.5% of the total.
Algeria, historically the main supplier of natural gas to Spain, was displaced at the beginning of the year by the United States. In the last quarter of 2021 se produced the total closure of the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline after several clashes between Algiers and Rabat y, In addition, this year there was an escalation in the diplomatic tension between Spain and the African country due to the turn of the Government regarding Western Sahara.
However, this same Thursday, Naturgy sealed an agreement with the state-owned Sonatrach for thea review of the price of its natural gas supply contracts in Algeria that affecteda, retroactively, to the volumes supplied this year. In addition, the two companies continue to negotiate, within the framework of the contractual clauses, the prices applicable as of January 1, 2023.
In the annual accumulated, Algeria is just behind USA as the main suppliers of natural gas to Spain, with a total of 82,593 GWh -77,146 GWh per tube and 5,447 GWh in LNG-, 24.5% of the total.
So far in 2022, within the country’s territorial diversification in its supply of natural gas, stands out too Nigeria, with 14.5% of the total (48,705 GWh).
In the case of Russia,Imports in the first nine months of the year stood at 38,125 GWh, 11.3% of the total, and in September they rose to 5,355 GWh, 15.2% in the month. However, most of this gas comes from the production of Yamal LNG, which does not depend on the Russian gas giant Gazprom but on the private company Novatek.
In September, almost 70% of the natural gas that arrived in Spain did so by methane tanker, compared to 48.9% in the same month last year, gas by tube representing just 30%.
Thus, in September, the significant increase in ship unloading stood out, which shot up 39% compared to the same month last year, taking a total of 24,511 GWh to the Spanish regasification plants, compared to 17,630 GWh in the same month of 2021.
Thus, the number of ships unloaded throughout the month of September in Spain it grew by 42%, reaching the figure of 27, 8 more than in the same month last year.
Demand falls 6.8%
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The demand for natural gas in the country fell 6.8% in September compared to the same month last year, to 28,144 GWh, mainly due to the drop in conventional (-38%), since that destined for the electricity sector grew by 54%.
As far as exercise goes, the demand for natural gas registers an increase of 3.8%, up to 280,362 GWh, with a growth of 80% of that destined to electricity and a fall of 17% of the conventional one.