Algeria Can Supply Spain And Portugal Through “Medgaz”

A report by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies stated that Algeria’s failure to renew the gas pipeline contract passing through Moroccan territory would have a limited impact on the Spanish-European market, given that Algeria has direct supply capabilities, in addition to the capacity to liquefy gas and deliver it via ships to Spain, noting that “Medgaz” can supply Spain and Portugal with the required gas quantities.
According to the report issued by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, for the month of September 2021, of which “Echorouk” reviewed a copy, titled “Will the Maghreb-Europe pipeline constitute a new headache for the European continent? In the event that LNG shipments from Algeria to Spain are delayed only in the winter season, they must arrive quickly due to the urgent need for them.
The report believes that the repercussions of Algeria’s failure to renew this contract will likely push the Algerian authorities to focus more on how to use their facilities to export liquefied natural gas “LNG”, in order to shore up their competitiveness and the cost of supplying gas to southern European markets, in order to quickly seize available opportunities.
According to the report’s authors, Algeria can meet the gas needs of Spain and Portugal through the “Medgaz” pipeline that connects Algeria directly to Spain, given the contracted quantities, which are 9 billion cubic meters for Spain and 2.5 for Portugal, while the capacity of “Medgaz” after the expansion is estimated at about 10.5 billion cubic meters.
The report pointed out that there is a similar situation between Algeria and Russia with regard to transnational gas pipelines, as Russia decided to launch the “North Stream 2” gas pipeline, which originates from Russian territory through the Baltic Sea to reach Germany directly, thus bypassing Ukraine, while Algeria launched “Medgaz”, which connects Algeria directly with Spain, without passing through Morocco.
A few days ago, the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, stated that Algeria would guarantee the supply of gas to Spain through the Medgaz pipeline only, in addition to the ships of liquefied natural gas, while he mentioned regarding the pipeline passing through Morocco that no decision has been taken yet, adding that when the contract expires on December 31, every event will have a talk. .