Spain becomes EU’s largest purchaser of Russian LNG in 2022-2023
"Despite regular calls by the Spanish authorities for reducing Russian gas purchases, our country remains one of top three suppliers of gas to Spain with an 18.1% share in total volume in January-November 2023," Russian Ambassador to Madrid Yury Klimenko said
MADRID, December 17. /TASS/. Spain became the European Union’s largest purchaser of Russian LNG in 2022-2023, Russian Ambassador to Madrid Yury Klimenko told TASS.
"Spain became the EU’s largest purchaser of Russian LNG in 2022-2023," he said. "Despite regular calls by the Spanish authorities for reducing Russian gas purchases, our country remains one of top three suppliers of gas to Spain with an 18.1% share in total volume in January-November 2023," the diplomat added. Madrid continues boosting imports of Russian LNG, which is not subject to European sanctions, he noted. "The increase in the reporting period totaled 38.8% compared with 2022," Klimenko said, adding that "from the economic viewpoint it is simply unprofitable for Spain to break a major long-term contract that has been signed with Russia."
El Mundo newspaper reported earlier that Russia’s LNG supplies to Spain are expected to reach record high levels by the end of 2023.
EU purchases of Russian LNG up 40% compared to pre-war levels, new study finds
The European Union vowed to drastically cut imports of gas from Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine but data shows the bloc's purchases of Russian-made liquefied natural gas (LNG) have soared.
According to new findings released by Global Witness, an environmental watchdog organisation, the European Union bought 21.6 million cubic metres (mcm) of Russian LNG between January and July of this year, a small increase compared to the same period in 2022, when imports totalled 21.3 mcm.
As coastal countries, Spain, Belgium and France have become busy destinations for LNG carriers, which need to unload their supplies on sophisticated terminals where the cooled-down liquid is turned back into gaseous form and sent to power plants.
The Netherlands, Greece, Portugal, Finland, Italy and Sweden were also listed by Global Witness as current consumers of Russian LNG. The numbers are based on shipping data obtained from Kpler, an analytics firm.
Spain
European imports of Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) are expected to keep surging in 2023. In 2022, the EU imported 22 billion cubic metres of LNG from Russia, a 38 % increase compared to the previous year. These imports account for USD 10 million of Russian daily revenue.
As the biggest importer of Russian LNG, Spain is leading this trend, with Russian LNG accounting for 6.513 GWh, or 17.4 % of total imports in April 2023. Spain [has doubled, or even tripled its imports of Russian LNG in each of the last 12 months when compared to the previous year. In May, Russia provided 27.9% of Spain's gas - up from 11.9% a year earlier.
Spain imported 7,673 gigawatt hours (GWh) of liquefied natural gas from Russia in June, which accounted for 26.8% of the kingdom's total purchases. From January to June, Spain purchased 41,145 GWh of LNG from Russia, Enagas added.