Badr Tadlaoui
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11:59 – June 20, 2024
Spain has become the leading gas supplier to Morocco with 28% of monthly exports, despite Algerian threats to break contracts signed with Madrid. and in a context marked by a sharp rise in prices and sporadic tensions on supply.
Algiers stopped supplying gas to Morocco via the Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline (GME) in October 2021; but Spain, thanks to broad consultations with the high Moroccan authorities, decided to allow Rabat to obtain supplies through this same pipe, active between 1995 and 2021.
In fact, Rabat now buys liquefied natural gas (LNG) on international markets, has it delivered to Spain where it will be regasified before being shipped to Morocco via the GME. Enagás, manager of the Spanish gas network, is responsible for verifying the origin of the LNG tankers transporting the gas purchased by Morocco, under the supervision of the Spanish Ministry of Ecological Transition. Furthermore, Spain’s dependence on Algerian gas has decreased considerably according to official figures.
The operation of the GME pipeline in reverse flow will allow Rabat to guarantee its energy security with the help of Madrid, the Spanish government said.
In July 2022, Morocco announced the reactivation of two large power plants using liquefied natural gas (LNG) transported from Spain through GME, according to the National Office of Electricity and Energy. drinking water (ONEE) and the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM). The gas stations of Tahaddart and Ain Béni Mathar, in the north, are operating optimally, Barlamane.com learned from official sources, who assure that “the Morocco-Spain gas interconnection in reverse flow” gives more than convincing results.
For Spain, gas relations with Morocco are established “on the basis of commercial relations and good neighborliness”at a time when projects between the British company Sound Energy and ONEE, relating to the supply of natural gas from the concession located in Tendrara, are progressing steadily.
