The Diplomat
Imports of natural gas to Spain from Russia fell in September to the lowest level since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine at the end of February last year, falling to 3,259 gigawatt hours (GW).
Specifically, liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia in September accounted for just 10.6% of the total supply to the country, making it the fourth main source of natural gas consumed in Spain in the month, according to data from the latest Enagás bulletin published by Europa Press.
September’s figures confirm the downward trend in the arrival of natural gas from Russia in Spain in recent months, after reaching an all-time high of 9,663 GWh in May. It would be necessary to go back to February 2022, the month in which the war in Ukraine began, to find a lower level of Russian gas arriving in Spain, when the figure stood at 2,174 GWh.
In the specific case of Spain, most of the natural gas arriving from Russia comes from long-term contracts with Yamal LNG, a consortium led by the private Russian company Novatek, whose shareholders include European and other countries’ capital. In any case, Russian natural gas has not been included in the vetoes adopted by the EU against Russia after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
However, for some time now, the third vice-president and minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, has been calling on Spanish energy companies to diversify their LNG supply sources and dispense with Russian gas. Ribera went so far as to make this suggestion in a letter sent to Spanish energy companies and the main Spanish natural gas marketers.
In September, Algeria was once again the leading country of origin of natural gas arriving in Spain, accounting for 42.4% with a total of 13,063 GWh – 8,009 GWh by pipeline and 5,054 GWh by methane tanker – followed by Nigeria (20.1% with 6,195 GWh) and the United States (12.4% with 3,814 GWh).
In the year to date, Algeria is also the leading supplier to the Spanish gas system so far this year, with 26.8%, followed by the United States (20.0%) – a country which last year was the main supplier to Spain in the midst of the crisis caused by the invasion of Ukraine.
As far as demand for natural gas in Spain is concerned, it fell by 6.3% in September compared to the same month last year and has now fallen by 13% so far this year.
Conventional demand – which includes industrial, commercial and domestic demand – grew by 31.4% compared to the same month last year, and demand for electricity generation fell by 36.1% compared to the same month last year.
Underground storage facilities continued to fill at a high level, remaining at 100% in September, and regasification plants have not dropped below 60% full.
Meanwhile, cumulative exports to France between January and September reached 17,602 GWh, 53.2% more than in the same period of 2022.
