Spain more than doubled its Russian gas imports year on year in May

In May, imports of natural gas from Russia to Spain more than doubled year on year. As a result, Russia became Spain’s second-largest gas supplier that month. In response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the Spanish government is urging gas importers not to sign new contracts with Russia for liquefied natural gas (LNG).

LNG imports from Russia

In May, Russia accounted for 27.9% of Spain’s total gas imports, making it the country’s second-largest supplier after Algeria (28.4%). It supplied 9.6 TWh in May 2023, compared with 4.4 TWh in May 2022. Of the total gas transported to Spain, 71.4% was delivered as LNG.

In view of the sharp increase in the number of LNG cargoes from Russia, the Spanish government urged importers not to sign new contracts with Russian companies.

As Bloomberg notes, this is “only” an appeal from the government, which importers are not obliged to follow and which carries no sanctions. However, Spain’s energy minister believes that the EU will soon ban imports of Russian LNG into the bloc.