The gas that goes to Morocco comes from the US.

The gas that Spain has been sending to Morocco since last Tuesday comes from the United States.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
30 June 2022 Thursday 23:00
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The gas that goes to Morocco comes from the US.

The gas that Spain has been sending to Morocco since last Tuesday comes from the United States. The first shipment of North American liquefied gas destined for the Alaouite kingdom was unloaded at the Bilbao regasification plant for its subsequent injection into the network, heading south. On Tuesday mid-afternoon, the meter for the Maghreb Europa gas pipeline stopped being at zero, as the fuel crossed the Strait of Gibraltar.

The Maghreb Europe was at zero since last November, when Algeria decided to consider the gas pipeline exploitation contract exhausted, to leave Morocco without gas, while sending a warning to Spain, which was left with a single Algerian gas route: the Medgaz gas pipeline, which runs through the Alborán Sea towards Almería.

Morocco never asked Spain to resell Algerian gas. Algeria had been strict about it: "Not a molecule of Algerian gas for Morocco!" The Moroccan authorities had been looking for a supplier on the international market for weeks and it was not easy for them to find one. The liquefied natural gas (LNG) market is saturated by intense competition between Asian countries and European countries seeking new contracts to reduce their dependence on Russia as soon as possible. The coming winter could be very hard, since there will not be enough LNG to go around if Russia shuts down the supply at the moment when European reserves start to decline. (Reserves that are now being refilled, with Russian maneuvers to make it difficult). We are going to remember the winter of 2023.

Let's activate the memory. When the bloody incident took place next to the Melilla fence on Friday of last week, Morocco had already resolved the gas supply, which it will use to produce electricity. With their backs covered by the United States, the pitched battle took place next to the Melilla fence. Terrible images that immediately spread like wildfire through social networks. Message to the imminent NATO summit in Madrid: if irregular immigration, fueled by external forces, is added to the catalog of threats to the Western democratic bloc, Morocco complies. Morocco is a stabilizer of the NATO bloc

Interested in not upsetting Morocco, upon receiving the first news from Melilla, Pedro Sánchez emphasized the threat posed by the mafias, defended the work of the Moroccan gendarmerie and forgot to lament the deaths. The information was confusing. He did not stir up his words in the following 48 hours, committing a serious political communication error. His first condolence appeared in the interview with the president published last Monday by La Vanguardia. On Tuesday, the shipment of gas to Morocco by the Maghreb Europe began under the umbrella of the NATO general assembly. Algeria has not said anything yet.

While the North American gas flowed towards Tangier, Sánchez thanked President Joe Biden in Madrid for the good predisposition of the United States for the sale of liquefied gas to Spain, with the consequent reduction of Algeria's energy dependence.

(A good part of the North American liquefied gas that now arrives in Spain was contracted years ago by Naturgy at good prices, according to sources familiar with the sector. Until now, Naturgy traded this gas on the international market).