Marruecos empieza a vislumbrar los efectos de la reversión del GME en pleno conflicto con Argelia
In June last year the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline (GME) was reopened in the opposite direction; the same pipeline that Algeria unilaterally decided to close a few months earlier. At the beginning, the quantities transported from Spain to Morocco were very small, but in the last two months, exports have greatly intensified. Compared to the almost testimonial volumes in June (60 gigawatt hours, GWh), July (172 GWh) and September (123 GWh), shipments from October onwards began to triple (328 GWh), reaching in November and December up to five times the quantities recorded in the first months of opening, 553 GWh and 527 GWh respectively.
In the six months that the pipeline has operated in the opposite direction to the traditional one, Spain has sent a total of 1,882 GWh of gas to Morocco, and in the last two months alone, almost 60% of the total accumulated supply has been concentrated according to the records of Enagás, the operator of the Spanish gas system and which manages the main gas pipeline network and the Corporación de Reservas Estratégicas de Productos Petrolíferos (CORES). Strictly speaking, Spain does not sell gas to Morocco. Spain's role is limited to receiving at its regasification plants the ships that transport the gas that Morocco acquires from any supplier country and sends it through the Tarifa (Cadiz) pipeline to Morocco.
The Spanish government flatly denied that Algerian gas could be diverted to Morocco and launched a special programme to prevent such a possibility. "In full disclosure, Morocco will be able to transport LNG by ship to the international market, unload it at a regasification plant on the peninsula and then use the Maghreb pipeline to reach its territory. In recent months, the Ministry of Ecological Transition, under the leadership of Vice-President Teresa Ribera, has insisted that the gas purchased by Morocco will not come from Algeria. In particular, Algeria decided to unilaterally close its largest natural gas project in October 2021 that had pipelines supplying natural gas to Spain.
The closure of the Strait of Gibraltar Subsea Pipeline forced Spain to significantly increase its offshore gas purchases and ultimately brought about a historic change in the list of suppliers. After managing Algeria for more than 50 years, the United States has now become the first country to sell natural gas to Spain at exorbitant prices. The reopening of the Strait of Gibraltar pipeline will no longer send gas to Spain as usual, but rather reverse the flow of supply and send gas from Spain to Morocco. The number of these shipments has increased in recent months.
Madrid is therefore tipping its hat to Morocco in the midst of the energy crisis in an effort to strengthen and improve its good bilateral relations. The two countries plan to re-establish relations with a bilateral summit between the two kingdoms to be held in Rabat in February, to be attended by President Pedro Sánchez and King Mohamed VI. The handover to Morocco further fuelled the diplomatic standoff between Spain and Algeria after the Spanish government spoke out on Western Sahara in support of Morocco's autonomy plans for the former Spanish colony. At the time, the Algerian government blocked trade links with Spain and threatened to terminate gas supply contracts.
After 25 years of operation, the pipeline is now closed and there is no realistic prospect of reopening in the short or medium term. Algeria guarantees the Spanish government the supplies stipulated in all contracts with Spanish energy companies, especially the largest buyer, Naturgy. But bilateral relations have deteriorated after Pedro Sánchez's government took aim at Western Sahara and backed Morocco's self-rule plans for the former Spanish colony, undermining Sahrawi movements and Algerian-backed self-determination.
