Spain received three ships with Russian gas in March: "Today it is impossible to break the contracts"

Russian gas continued to arrive on Spanish shores during the month of March, waiting for the

to finally toughen its sanctions against

for the invasion of Ukraine.

Specifically, last month a total of three ships with gas originating in the

docked in Spanish ports , sources from the energy sector explained to EL MUNDO.

The arrival of Russian gas in Spain takes place in the midst of a debate in Brussels on whether European countries should increase the pressure on Putin by prohibiting the purchase of energy from Russia after learning of massacres such as that in the city of Bucha.

The agreement seems complicated by the enormous dependence of countries like

on Russian supplies, so for now the European boycott seems to be reduced only to coal imports.

The Spanish Government assures that Spain would have no problem substituting Russian gas for another of a different origin, since it represents approximately 6% of its total imports.

However, the companies that are operating with Russia are reluctant to break their contracts if there is no political order because of the loss that it would mean for their business: the door would be opened to

due to the unilateral breaking of the agreement and they would have to seek an alternative supplier and much more expensive to meet the commitment in the volumes of gas for delivery agreed with its customers.

"In our case we have already committed to gas at a fixed price with our customers of 22 euros per megawatt hour and we are buying it at 20. If we broke our supply contract, it would be difficult to find something below 100 euros," they explain in one of the companies dedicated to the energy trading business.

In addition, the breach of the contract would not imply that Russia does not collect the money agreed for its energy, since the vast majority of methane carriers include

that require payment even if the gas is not purchased and in many cases the money has been advanced through financial guarantees.

Naturgy

is one of the Spanish companies that has a supply contract with Yamal LNG, the plant that exploits gas from the Russian Arctic and that is owned by the Russian

the French

and two Chinese capital firms.

The agreement is still operational pending how events are resolved, but in any case its volume is small compared to other supplies that the Spanish group has agreed in different parts of the world.

Another of the companies that has brought ships with Russian gas to Spain is the Swiss

which declines to comment as they are private contracts.

What the companies that operate with Russia are doing is not renewing the contracts when they expire.

In their boards of directors they deny that there is direct pressure from the government to break with Russia, although they warn that every time politicians debate the ban on gas imports, collateral effects occur.

"There is enormous legal uncertainty because we do not know if in a month we will be able to continue unloading Russian gas in Europe. This is already being translated into prices," they explain in a company in the sector.

In any case, sources in the gas sector see the possibility of Europe taking the step to cut off supplies with Russia or vice versa as almost impossible.

The former needs this fuel to power its industry and heat its homes, while the latter relies on hydrocarbons for its main economic support.

The Spanish Government assures that in the event that the cut occurs in one of the two directions, Spain would not be in danger because the entrance of Algerian gas is assured.

A senior gas manager clarifies: "More than half of the gas we buy comes by ship. If Germany or Italy run out of Russian gas, they will pay whatever it takes to get hold of that liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a large part of the ships do not they would arrive in Spain. It would be a catastrophe".

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