The future of the GME gas pipeline which links Algeria to Spain via Morocco is definitely sealed. After Algiers’ decision to no longer supply the Iberian Peninsula through this pipeline, Spanish gas importers took note of this measure.
Even if Algeria has not yet officially decided on the renewal of the contract for this gas pipeline which expires on October 31, its future is dotted.
According to the S&P Global agency, which is based on recent data published by the gas network operator Enagas, Spanish buyers recorded zero imports of Algerian gas via this pipeline for the month of November.
The decision to dispense with GME to deliver gas to Spain, which is one of its main customers in the world, was confirmed on Sunday, October 10 by the President of the Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune. “We have agreed with the Spanish friends to supply them with natural gas via the Medgaz pipeline,” he said.
“Huge 540 km didjeridoo on Moroccan territory”
A victim of political tensions between Algeria and Morocco, the GME gas pipeline, which allows Morocco to benefit from one billion m3 of Algerian gas at a preferential price, has sunk into the storm. By deciding to disconnect the supply to Spain via this gas pipeline, Algeria has implicitly signed its death warrant. His contract, which expires on October 31, will not be renewed, even if President Tebboune has left the suspense hanging.
Concerned about preserving its image and its position as a reliable supplier of gas, Algeria does not want to appear as the country which started the hostilities. He thus leaves a door open for Morocco to negotiate the purchase of Algerian gas at market price, but this option is unlikely due to the current state of relations between the two countries.
“As of November 1, 2021, the GME gas pipeline will be a huge 540 km didjeridoo on Moroccan territory,” an Algerian source told TSA on Tuesday, October 12.
After having maintained the suspense for months on the renewal of this gas pipeline, by wanting to use it to weigh on its relations with Algeria, knowing the weight of hydrocarbons in the economy of its neighbor to the east, Morocco has ended up giving in by announcing that he was in favor of maintaining the pipeline. But Algeria has made arrangements by increasing the capacity of the Medgaz which links it directly to Spain.
Result: Morocco, which lost the gas battle with Algeria, is now thinking of converting its gas pipeline to import gas from Spain, which is far from an easy task.
