Enagas, Terega "working closely" on third Spain-France gas link

Spanish gas transmission system operator Enagas is "working closely" with French counterpart Terega on building a third gas interconnection between Spain and France, the former's CEO Arturo Gonzalo said in an earnings call in late April.

The commercial case for this interconnection was questionable a few years ago, but that was when the plan was sending gas from France to Spain, Gonzalo said. With the gas market now so tight, and the EU pushing to end reliance on Russian gas, the link could instead be used to pump gas from Spain's six under-utilised regasification plants to France, he said.

However, he said it "made no sense" for this infrastructure to be funded by Spanish consumers. European institutions will need to look into financial structuring for the project, he said, noting that the link would benefit countries in central Europe looking to phase out Russian supplies.

Gonzalo added he did not believe there was a risk to Algerian gas supply to Spain as a result of a recent diplomatic row between the two countries. In March Spain supported Algerian rival Morocco's proposal to give the Western Sahara region limited autonomy, ending its 42-year-old policy of remaining neutral in the dispute.

A former Spanish colony, Western Sahara was annexed by Morocco in 1975. Algeria supports the region's separatist movement and has called for independence, and the two countries have been locked in a dispute over the territory for decades. Algeria is Spain's largest gas supplier, delivering supplies via the Maghreb-Europe and Medgaz pipelines, the former of which runs through Morocco first.

"We believe that from a gas supply perspective in Spain, there's no concern," Gonzalo said.