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MOSCOW, December 2 Spain may purchase a record amount of gas from Russia by the end of this year, El Mundo newspaper writes, citing data from the network operator Enagas.
«In the first ten months of 2023, Russia sent <…> 12.8 percent more gas to Spain than in all of 2022. Thus, this percentage is expected to increase significantly after of the year,” says the publication.
It is noted that Spain’s dependence on Russian blue fuel has increased sixfold over five years. This was facilitated by the closure of the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline in 2021.
According to the publication, this year Russia's contribution to the Spanish gas system exceeded that of Nigeria, which was the third main market for Madrid.
“This year (2023. — Ed.) will end as the year in which the Spanish gas system received the most Russian gas in its entire history,” the article summarizes.
In November, operator Enagas reported that Russia had taken third place after Algeria and the United States in terms of gas supplies to Spain in the period from January to October. Thus, ten months ago, Madrid purchased 60.8 gigawatt-hours of liquefied natural gas from Moscow (almost 4.8 billion cubic meters, 18.1 percent of the country’s total gas consumption) compared to 42.45 gigawatt-hours (3 .3 billion cubic meters) for the same period last year.
In 2021, Algeria did not renew the contract for gas supplies to Spain through the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline passing through Morocco. The reason for this was the breakdown in relations between the two African countries.
Since November, all gas supplies from Algeria to Spain go through the Medgaz gas pipeline across the Mediterranean Sea.