Did Spain fall into the trap of selling Algerian gas to Morocco?

Recent Spanish data show that Madrid will export a fifth of the gas it will import from Algeria, Russia and the United States in 2023 to three main destinations: France, Morocco and Italy, raising serious questions about whether the government of Pedro Sanchez fell into the trap of selling Algerian gas to its ally, Morocco’s Makhzen regime.
According to data published last week by the Spanish Energy Reserves Management and Control Agency “Cores” for the year 2023, Algeria is the first supplier of natural gas to Spain with quantities amounting to 116,252 gigawatt/hour, of which 100,000 gigawatt/hour is natural gas through the “Medgaz” pipeline and 16,000 gigawatt/hour is liquefied natural gas “GNL”.
Algeria was ahead of the United States, which came in second with an estimated 85,882 gigawatt-hours, and Russia, which came in third, despite Spain joining the Western alliance supporting Ukraine in its war against Moscow, with quantities reaching 72,690 gigawatt-hours.
In the midst of the data published by this Spanish body, an important issue emerges that must be noted, which is not Algeria’s lead in terms of gas supplies to Spain, since Algerian gas has been the main source of supply for the European country for decades, but rather the issue related to Spain’s gas exports, of which Morocco was one of the most important destinations.
It is well known that Spain has been trying for years to become a “European” “HUB” for natural gas, given the availability of supplies coming from Algeria through the “Medgaz” pipeline, as well as the availability of 7 stations for regasification of liquefied gas in its gaseous state, or what is known as “regazéification”, which qualifies it to export gas to external destinations.
According to the “Cores” agency, of the 161,000 gigawatt/hour of gas that will arrive in Spain in 2023, a fifth of these quantities, or 19 percent, will be re-exported, mainly to 3 main destinations: France, Morocco and Italy.
The quantities of gas exported by Spain to its ally, the Makhzen regime, were transferred by reverse pumping through the Maghreb-Europe pipeline, which Algeria stopped operating since November 2021, from 1,882 gigawatt/hour in 2022 to more than 9,472 gigawatt/hour in 2023, an increase estimated at 403 percent.
The Ministry of Energy had previously warned the Spanish government against violating the terms of the contract, which stipulates that diverting Algerian gas to a destination other than the final destination, which is Spain, included in the bilateral contracts, will result in a direct interruption of supplies, noting that diverting Algerian gas imported by Spain to another destination requires Algeria’s approval and also results in additional financial benefits for the Algerian party.