Five energy companies concentrate legal purchases of Russian gas in Spain

2023-06-05 21:30:01

He Russian port of Sabetta It is literally at the end of the world, some 600 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, where the sun disappears for three months of the year and temperatures reach over 50 degrees below zero. From there all depart methane tankers that have supplied with Russian gas to Spain since the Kremlin decided invade Ukraine and blow up the European security architecture. That liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced in Russia It has helped Spaniards and Europeans to wade through the winter without blackouts or more shocks than the monthly bill. But it has also become an embarrassing matter for spainas the country became one of the largest world importers of Russian LNG. A trade dominated by a handful of companies that is enriching several oligarchs close to the Kremlin and indirectly feeding the public coffers with which Russia finances its war.

The purchase of Russian gas es totally cool. Unlike what happened with oil, diesel or coal, the European Union hasn’t taxed yet gas sanctions so as not to contribute to the pressure on prices, which were multiplied by 10 last year, or take risks with the security of supply. A factor that makes it extremely difficult for companies with contracts in Russia can invoke a “cause of force” major to terminate them. And since the beginning of the invasion, Spain has been one of the best clients of the gas industry from the Slavic country.

Their Russian LNG imports increased a 55% in 2022 and continued to grow in the first four months of this year a 58% compared to the same period of the previous year. If those 14 months are compared with those that preceded the start of the war, they have almost doubled, according to data from the Strategic Reserves Corporation (Cores). “The drought and the French nuclear park problems have forced an increase in the consumption of natural gas to generate electricityespecially to cover the needs of our neighbours, Portugal and France“, say sources from the Ministry of Ecological Transition. “All of this has led to this increase in the arrival of gas from Russia and other countries such as the US.” So far this year, Russian gas has covered the 17% of the supply in Spainsecond only to Algeria y USAboth with 24%, according to Enagás’ accumulated data up to April.

Fifth world importer

In the EU, only Belgium has imported more this 2023, while, in global terms, Spain appears as the fifth largest buyer of Russian LNG since the start of the invasion, second only to Japan, Belgium, china and france, according to data from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). This reality, which makes the government uncomfortable, is largely known. Much less is known, however, about which companies are importing Russian LNG. And it is not known why gas contracts are confidential and the energy companies have no interest in airing their trade relations with Russia. In Spain, only enagas y Cores They claim to know the name of the buyers, but after a long search, EL PERIÓDICO has been able to access the Kpler data, one of the few world consultancies that, after tracking the methane tankers that arrive at port, tries to find out the name of the importing company. It does not always succeed, so this newspaper has chosen to publish only the names of energy companies whose imports it has been able to verify or that Kpler identifies with a high level of certainty.

Since the invasion began and until the end of April five companies have brought Russian gas to Spain, according to those criteria. Nature is long the main importerwith more than half of Russian gas purchases received in the Spanish ports. Volumes that, according to the company, conform to the amounts established in the long term contract which signed in 2013 with an international consortium led by Novatekthe largest independent Russian gas producer, and began to exploit in 2018. This contract does not expire until 2041 and includes the shipment to Spain of 37 methane tankers per year, although according to Kpler data, the company brought 40 ships from Russia last year. “We don’t bring nothing outside of that contract, which is subject to compliance clauses. We are not profiting from the situation”, says the Naturgy spokesperson, Paula Zapata. The company claims to import annually “around 3 trillion cubic meters“, a figure that would be equivalent to 53% of all imports from Russia in 2022.

Naturgy, Total and the Swiss ‘traders’

Very far from Naturgy appears the Spanish subsidiary of the Swiss energy company Met, one of the 10 largest gas and electricity marketers in Spain, which has brought a minimum of two methane tankers in the 14 months analyzed. “We do not comment on where exactly we buy the gas,” the company says. Also on the list are subsidiaries of two other ‘traders’ headquartered in Switzerland, Dxt y dishesalso with a minimum of two freights each.

The last actor involved in the business is French Total Energy, with a single shipment that arrived in Spain in May 2022 and that would have been contracted days before the start of the invasion. “Since the beginning of the war in UkraineTotal has not directly or indirectly imported Russian gas into Spain, except for a spot shipment that was processed before the war,” the company maintains. spot shopping are those that are paid in cash for their immediate shipping. A more opportunistic type of business than the long-term contracts that Met, Dxt and Enet have also resorted to, according to Kpler data.

Despite not having imposed sanctions on gas, a factor that complicates the breaking of their contracts for companies like Naturgy, Brussels has conspired to end dependence on Russia in 2027 and days after the invasion he presented a plan to reduce by two thirds the total purchases of Russian gas in 2022. Since then the imports per tube have plummeted, as the Kremlin cut off supplies, but the maritime increased more than 30%.

Partly because of the appetite of Belgium, France, Spain and Netherlands. “He european market has been very attractive to any LNG supplier and Yamal LNGthe main Russian supplier to Europe, is very close to the continent,” says Anne-Sophie Corbeau from the Center on Global Energy Policy. “From a purely economic point of view, it makes sense for companies to buy in a nearby market and sell it in the EU, where they have paid sky high prices“As good business as Russian gas, adds Corbeau, has been American.

Gas re-export to Europe

Part of these imports has served to cover the holes in those countries that have stopped receiving Russian gas by tube or that have significantly reduced it, such as Germany, Poland o Italia. “With his excess of regasification capacitySpain has been the easier market for importerswhich have then dedicated themselves to redistributing it where it was most needed, particularly northwestern Europe,” says Henning Gloystein, Eurasia Group analyst. According to the CNMV, Spain was the largest re-exporter of gas to Europe last year, mainly to Germany and Italy. They increased by 45%, a unprecedented number.

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He Spanish government He has been asking importers for months to reduce their dependence on Russia and in March sent them a letter urging them not to sign new contracts in Russia or renew existing ones. “If we want to be consistent, we cannot continue to accept Russian LNG,” the minister told them. Teresa Ribera in the letter, as published by ‘Bloomberg’. enagas, Axpo Iberia y Repsol they replied saying that they have not imported from Russia since the beginning of the military aggression.

“You can make a positive reading or one critical reading of the role that Spain has played“, says Gloystein from the Eurasia Group. “The positive is that its imports of Russian gas have helped to solve the energy crisis, particularly in northern Europe. The negative is that some companies have profited while contributing revenue to the Russian government through the taxes that Novatek pays in the country”, he adds. Only Spanish importers have left in the Russian economy €3,489 million since the beginning of the invasion, according to CREA estimates.