RE: Gas supplies4 Sep 2021 21:26
This situation also comes at a time when Morocco is counting on increasing its natural gas supplies because it is cleaner and more competitive, and to gradually replace coal. The Moroccan energy ministry predicted last month that national demand will reach more than 3 billion cubic metres by 2040.
Gas will be more expensive
According to analyst Gonzalo Escribano, Director of the Energy and Climate Programme at the Elcano Royal Institute, one of Morocco's solutions after 31 October if the GME contract, which expires on that date, is not renewed, is to reverse the direction of this pipe in the section that connects Morocco with Spain so that the latter supplies natural gas to the Maghreb country from other suppliers.
However, Escribano believes that the best solution is for the parties to cooperate and for Spain to negotiate with Algeria a possible gradual closure of the GME in order to find alternatives and test the effectiveness of the Medgaz. "(The GME) is an element of functional strategic cooperation that benefits all parties," the Spanish analyst told EFE.
Moroccan economist Rachid Aourraz, of the Moroccan Institute for Policy Analysis (MIPA), shares the same idea, believing that the possible cessation of the GME "will put an end to the opportunity to advance economic integration" in this Mediterranean region.
https://atalayar.com/en/content/tension-between-morocco-and-algeria-takes-its-toll-gas