Business Week: Putin Gives Spain Hope of Breaching French Barrier to Gas Market
Enrique Carrion has been waiting four years for the world’s biggest gas tanker to arrive in Barcelona and Vladimir Putin is offering him hope.
Carrion’s employer Enagas SA spent more than 400 million euros ($555 million) on an upgrade that allows the liquefied natural gas terminal he manages in the Spanish city’s port to unload Qatar’s newest carriers. Their plans to pump gas north to Europe’s industrial center were thwarted as the French pipeline operator stalled on giving them a connection.
Now Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, and his threat to disrupt Europe’s gas supply, is shifting the priorities of European leaders, opening up an opportunity for Enagas to make a return on its investment.