A breakdown reduces the gas flow between Algeria and Spain by 22%

Moments of uncertainty and bewilderment.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
25 July 2022 Monday 01:01
29 Reads
A breakdown reduces the gas flow between Algeria and Spain by 22%

Moments of uncertainty and bewilderment. And also of confusion.

In the midst of the energy crisis, this Sunday the gas supply between Spain and Algeria was altered by a breakdown. Initially there was talk of an interruption, although in the end it was a reduction in the usual flows. Due to maintenance work, for a couple of hours the supply was reduced by around 22%.

The section affected is the Medgaz marine gas pipeline. Enagás has specified in the afternoon that there has been no cut in the supply at any time, when the Algerian company Sonatrach in a statement at noon had reported that there had been "a temporary interruption of the gas supply to Spain" due to a breakdown on the Spanish side of the gas pipeline.

"The Spanish technical teams are working hard to carry out the necessary repairs to restore the gas supply to Spain as soon as possible," Sonatrach pointed out in the aforementioned statement.

Enagás explained that "this afternoon, according to information received from Medgaz, during routine maintenance work at the Beni Saaf Compression Station, there has been a momentary two-hour cessation of the flows" that start from the plant from Algeria to the international connection of Almería.

"There has been a short-term failure at the Beni Saif plant," according to sources from the Ministry for Ecological Transition. “This has caused a decrease – which will not stop – in the flows entering Spain through said international connection. The problem has been solved and flows are recovering normally”, indicated the company, which has specified that the minimum flow has been 704,000 Nm3/h, when in recent weeks it has been around 900,000.

From Enagás they specify that in the Spanish gas system "there has been no effect on the security of supply, there has been no technical reason that has produced this situation, nor has any action been required to solve it".

Spain and Algeria are in an unprecedented diplomatic crisis due to the change in position adopted last March by the Spanish Government on Western Sahara, by supporting the Moroccan proposal for autonomy within Morocco. The crisis deteriorated until, on June 8, Algeria suspended the Friendship Treaty and announced the first retaliatory economic measure by blocking foreign trade.

As a result of the new political situation, the Professional Association of Banks and Financial Establishments (ABEF), a key banking organization in Algeria, ordered to freeze as of June 9 “bank direct debits related to foreign trade operations of products and services from and to Spain”.

The measure caused a total blockade of trade between the two countries, with the exception of Algerian gas exports, which were not affected by the Abef measure. And that, breakdowns aside, continue normally