Algeria will maintain the price of gas to its customers, except for Spain

The Algerian energy company Sonatrach has warned this Friday of the possibility of “recalculating” the price of gas supply to Spain, within a context in which anticipates “promising prospects” towards European clients after the discovery of new deposits. The decision of the energy firm comes after the turn of the Spanish Government on Western Sahara after announcing its support for the Moroccan autonomy proposal for the former Spanish colony.

The CEO of Sonatrach, Toufik Hakkar, has acknowledged in statements to the Algerian news agency APS that the prices of gas and oil “have skyrocketed” since Russia launched a military offensive on Ukraine on February 24. After this situation, Algeria “has decided to maintain relatively correct prices for all its clients”, but Hakkar does not rule out this being the case in the future. “Recalculating prices with our Spanish clients is not ruled out,” he said.

The CEO of Sonatrach has explained that the group wants to invest about 40,000 million dollars (about 36,200 million euros) in the next four years to investigate and exploit deposits, both oil and gas, and is optimistic about the future . In the case of gas, he expects Algerian capacity to double in this time, “which suggests promising prospects for European customers.”

Delegations from the Portuguese and Italian governments have recently visited Algeria to discuss, among other issues, the future of energy supply, in a context marked by the interest within the EU to reduce dependence on Russia. In the case of Spain, relations have been affected by the recognition by the Government of Pedro Sánchez of Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara. Algiers called his ambassador in Madrid for consultations as a sign of discomfort.

The price rises 6.7%

The entry into the Iberian Peninsula of a late cold wave, which will last until April 6, prompted the gas price 6.7% yesterday. And it is that the drop in temperatures, and therefore the increase in electricity consumption, will test the level of gas reserves in Spain.

According to the calculations of the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), the expected low temperatures will lead to an increase of 565 GWh compared to the values ​​expected under normal conditions, which practically represents the equivalent consumption of half a day. Currently the country’s gas reserves are somewhat more than 58% of its total capacity. According to Enagás, the current levels of inventories allow this increase in demand to be met, but this strong increase will put more pressure on prices.