Spain's energy statistics on its natural gas exports have revealed a continuous increase in gas exports to Morocco, with a significant rise noted in 2024, coinciding with an increase in Spain's imports of Algerian gas.
According to statistics published by the Spanish newspaper "Vozpopuli," gas exports from Spain to Morocco last June increased by 18.5% compared to the same month in 2023, when the recorded percentage was 7.7%.
The same source indicates that Spain's gas exports to Morocco have been steadily rising since 2022, when the percentage of gas exported to Morocco in June 2022 accounted for only 0.1% of Spain's total gas exports. However, since then, exports to Morocco have seen a remarkable increase, reaching 18.5% in June of this year.
This rise coincides with a reported increase in Spain’s imports of Algerian gas. A report published by the Spanish newspaper "El Economista" last August revealed that Algeria topped the list of countries exporting liquefied natural gas to Spain, surpassing the United States and Russia.
During its crisis with Spain following Madrid's declaration of support for the autonomy plan to resolve the Sahara conflict under Moroccan sovereignty, Algeria had threatened to cut off gas supplies, particularly if Spain re-exported Algerian gas to Morocco.
According to "El Economista," Spain's imports of Algerian gas in July reached 30.8% of its total gas imports for that month, making Algeria the leading supplier of liquefied gas to Spain.
The Spanish newspaper, citing the company "Enagás," which oversees the import of Algerian gas to Spain, added that statistics from the beginning of the current year until the end of July indicate that Algerian gas exports to Spain increased by more than 26% compared to the same period last year.
This increase, according to the same source, contributed to reducing Spain’s reliance on other suppliers, such as Russia and the United States, where dependence on Russian gas fell by 6.7%, and gas exports from the United States to Spain decreased by 16.9%.
This rise in Algeria’s gas exports to Spain suggests a desire on Algeria’s part to restore relations with Madrid, despite Spain not retracting its support for Morocco in the Sahara issue. This position was the cause of the crisis between Algeria and Spain from March 2022 until late 2023 and is also the reason for the current crisis between Algeria and France.
