The Ministry of Ecological Transition, led by Teresa Ribera, has sent a letter to companies that import liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Spain in which it “requests their collaboration” to limit purchases from Russia.
The letter has been received by all LNG importers operating in Spain and in it, according to some of its recipients consulted by La Vanguardia, reference is made to the public recommendation that, along these lines, was made at the beginning of March by the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson. She asked that new supply contracts with Russia not be signed, nor that current ones be renewed.
Both Ribera and Simson remain in line with the recommendations since the European Union has not prohibited purchases of Russian LNG. And so far, neither have individual countries. Although the “verbal” recommendation to cut flows with Russia is not new.
According to the information about the letter that was advanced yesterday by the Bloomberg agency, it is requested that “the diversification of the supply of liquefied natural gas be intensified and do so without those from Russia.” Repsol sources indicate that they are not buying gas from Russia and they reported this to the Ministry of Transition. Enagás and Axpo would have answered along the same lines.
Punitive measures against Russia after the start of the war have caused European pipeline gas flows from that country to plummet to record lows. But the need for gas in Europe has forced the countries of the old continent to diversify their sources of supply and resort to LNG to ensure sufficient supplies for the winter. The United States has been one of the main suppliers of this LNG and other countries such as Nigeria have begun to stand out.
But while the European Union has banned the purchase of pipeline-supplied gas, it has never approved a similar measure for the purchase of Russian LNG, so its purchase is not subject to sanctions and trade has continued. Meanwhile, in other countries such as the United Kingdom or the Baltic countries, purchases of Russian LNG have been suspended.
In Spain, the country with the most regasification companies in Europe, LNG imports have shot up 84% since the outbreak of the war, according to data published by the Bloomberg agency on March 14, the same day the ministry dated its letter. These data placed Spain as the main buyer of Russian LNG from the EU, followed by Belgium and France. The think tank Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air also placed the country as the country that spent the most (944 million euros) in the Union on oil and gas from Moscow. It is a statement that the ministry has not liked, much less when there are less than two months left before Spain assumes the presidency of the European Union.
