Russian gas imports to Spain increase despite EU restrictions

2023-04-29 16:00:00

ENERGY – Despite the positions of the European Union (EU) in terms of energy supply, Spain buys twice as much gas from Russia as before the invasion of Ukraine.

Natural gas imports from Russia to Spain increased by 151% in February compared to the same month in 2022. This is according to data from the Corporation of Strategic Reserves of Petroleum Products (Cores), which indicates that imports reached 5465 GWhs.

With 17.2% of total imports per month, Russia is Spain’s third largest supplier of natural gas, behind the United States and Algeria.

EU calls to reduce the Hispanic Peninsula’s energy dependence on Russia, and to not “no more using Putin’s gas”have not been of much help: Brussels has vetoed the purchase of Russian coal and oil, but still allows gas imports.

“No more gas from Putin” – European Parliament

Industrial specificity

Spain therefore continues to buy Russian gas for its favorable price. It is not primarily intended for domestic consumption. Despite the high figures, it is important to point out that a large part of this imported natural gas is resold to other countries, under commercial agreements. All of this can be explained by the significant regasification infrastructure in Spain, particularly specialized in the transformation of LNG.

According to the Antena 3 television channel, the transition ministry asked the main Spanish operators a few days ago to reduce their purchases of Russian gas. However, the situation is not favorable because, in some cases, contracts signed until 2041 cannot be terminated.

Within the EU, Spain can thus promote its specialized industry and also benefits from a temporary mechanism to cap the price of gas used to produce electricity, like Portugal.

On October 21, 2022, a “roadmap” was agreed between European leaders to consider setting up comparable systems in other states, including France, to stem the rise in oil prices. energy, without any real success so far.

A group purchasing program on a European scale was to be launched with producing countries such as the United States or Norway.