Algeria becomes Spain's leading gas supplier

Algeria has become Spain’s leading gas supplier with 47% of its imports. According to SUR on 10 August, the country now ranks ahead of Nigeria (15.4%), the US (11.6%), and Russia (8.1%).

Algeria confirmed its position by exporting about 10,707 gigawatt-hours of gas only in July, with 74,336 GWh since January.

The European Commission has confirmed that from 1 January 2027, all purchases of gas from Russia will be banned. The country remains one of Europe’s largest suppliers, creating an important and sudden need for new markets. As the war in the Middle East only extends and reduces the global flow of oil, Algeria has begun to fill the gap for some countries.

Thanks to the Medgaz Pipeline and LNG arriving by ship, Algeria finds itself first. Many of the total Spanish imports of natural gas pass through this pipeline, which connects African producers to Europe. Additionally, the renewed talks and diplomatic rapprochement between Pedro Sánchez’s government and Algiers have accelerated economic relations.

Spain has diversified its imports by purchasing from 14 different countries, with Nigeria coming second behind Algeria, accounting for 15,4% of the Spanish market. In third place is the United States, which dominated the Spanish energy market for the past 3 from January to April before losing to Algeria.

Spain’s consumption of gas has importantly increased in the past 6 months, according to figures released by the Spanish grid operator Enagás. As Algeria’s national gas company, Sonelgaz, is exporting technology and electrical capacities abroad, its influence across Africa and Europe is slowly expanding. Its donations in Chad for power plants, offerings of expertise to Benin, as well as the important investments in the trans-Saharan pipeline, have fructified recent efforts. Construction has officially started on the Algerian segment of the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP) on the 4th of June. This specific segment forms the central part of the massive network. The complete TSGP network will stretch over 4,000 kilometres. It will carry natural gas from Nigeria through Niger into Algeria. From there, Algeria will use its export infrastructure to send the gas to international markets.

SUR, Maghrebi.org