In the middle of the season saving to deal with a possible cut gas exports from Russia this winter, the Enagás statistical bulletin reveals that Spain has increased its gas purchases by 15% in the last seven months, reaching 263,432 GWh. In the month of July the difference was even greater, 27% more than a year before, although compared to the previous month the figure is very similar. Nevertheless, Moscow maintains the same weight than a year ago (10%).
The reason they allude to from the energy sector for Russia to remain the third gas supplier despite the war is that the long term contracts they cannot be broken if there is no just cause and there is currently no sanctions by the European Union to gas, as is the case in other cases. However, at the beginning of last month, the third vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition, Theresa Riveraasked the marketers (those in charge of buying gas) to look for ways to “reduce” the origin of Russian gas as much as possible and “diversify” supply contracts they could have with this country.
Ribera’s statements came after Russian gas purchases amounted to 8,752 GWh in June and accounted for 24.4% of the total, which caused some political debate. So, the CEO of Enagás, Arturo Gonzalo Aizpiridescribed the situation as something “temporary and exceptional” by business reasons and he ventured that in July the supply of this country will return to its “usual” weight of 10% of the total. With 5,317 GWh, Russian gas represented 14.5% of the total in July, but in the accumulated of the first seven months that 10% is maintained.
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With Russia at the same level as ‘usual’, the main difference is the US gas growth, a country that has been the main supplier since the beginning of the year. The imports from the United States have multiplied by four in the first seven months of the year, with a weight of 33% of the total gas, compared to 9.1% that this country had a year ago. But this rise is not only due to Russia and the need for more gas, but to the 70% drop in purchases from Algeria (until this year the first supplier) due to the closure of the gas pipeline that crossed Morocco in December 2021.
Despite everything and past four months after the invasion of Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, the supply diversification of gas in Spain is relative, since the United States, Algeria and Russia continue to account for 70% of gas imports and the remaining 30% is divided between a largest number of countries than in 2021. The weight of Nigeria and Trinidad, which account for 14.2% and 10.8% of the total (compared to 9.7% and 4.7% a year ago) and Egypt (3.5), Portugal (1.3% ) and Oman (1.1%), as countries with a weight greater than 1% of the total.