Algeria warned Spain today that any diversion of exported gas, “whose destination is other than those stipulated in the contract,” would mean a breach of the contract, according to the Algerian Ministry of Mines and Energy.
The information was provided by the official agency of the North African country.
The Algerian Minister of Mines and Energy, Mohamed Arkab, said in a statement that he had received today “by an email, from his Spanish counterpart, Teresa Ribera, Spain’s decision to allow the exploitation of the Maghreb European region in a reverse flow.” Gas Pipeline (GME).” GME, which had been supplying gas to Spain and Portugal via Moroccan territory, ended in October 2021, when a 25-year contract expired, in complete tension between Algeria and Morocco.
Algeria said that “the operation (which Spain requested to use the Greater Middle East) will take place today or tomorrow [sexta-feira]”.
“The quantities of Algerian natural gas delivered to Spain, the destination of which is other than those stipulated in the contracts, will be considered in breach of contractual obligations and, therefore, may lead to a breach of the contract binding on Sonatrach. [empresa petrolífera estatal da Argélia] to its Spanish clients.
Algeria is Spain’s main gas supplier, a major energy exporter at a time when the crisis in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has prompted the European Union to consider suspending its gas purchases from Russia.
For its part, Spain today denied selling natural gas from Algeria to Morocco.
As sources from the Ministry of Environmental Transformation and Demographic Challenge explained to the EFE news agency, Spain was limited to responding to the request for support expressed by its partner Morocco to ensure energy security on the basis of trade relations between the two countries.
Under the agreement, Morocco will be able to buy LNG from international markets, offload it at a gas-to-gas regasification plant on the mainland and use the Maghreb gas pipeline to reach its territory, but it will not be Algerian.
The same sources also indicated that the activation of the mechanism that enjoys “full transparency” was discussed with Algeria in recent months and was reported today to the Algerian government.
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