Rabat has signed a contract to purchase natural gas produced in the eastern region of the kingdom with a British company, as announced by the latter in a statement on Tuesday. This comes a month after Algeria decided to send gas to Spain via Morocco. Sound Energy, a company specializing in oil and gas exploration, stated that it "has signed a contract with the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water to sell natural gas from the Tendrara field in eastern Morocco." The contract stipulates the sale of 350 million cubic meters of natural gas annually over ten years. This gas will be transported through the Moroccan section of the Maghreb-Europe pipeline, which used to carry Algerian gas to Spain until the end of October, when Algeria decided not to renew the related contract due to strained relations with Rabat.
At the end of August, Algeria severed diplomatic relations with Morocco, accusing it of engaging in "hostile acts," while the kingdom expressed regret over the decision and "rejected its baseless justifications." The relationship between the two neighbors has been tense for decades due to the Western Sahara issue. Algeria has been supplying about 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually to Spain and Portugal via the Maghreb-Europe pipeline since 1996. In exchange for allowing the pipeline to cross its territory, Morocco received around one billion cubic meters of natural gas each year at a preferential price, which represented 97% of the country's needs, according to experts, in addition to financial compensations estimated at about 50 million dollars last year, according to a Moroccan expert.
Following the Algerian presidency's announcement of the non-renewal of the agreement regarding the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline, the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water in Morocco stated that this decision "will currently have only a minor impact on the performance of the national electrical system." The statement added that "other options for sustainable alternatives are being studied in the medium and long term," without providing further details. Meanwhile, Algerian gas supplies to Spain will be transported via the Medgaz underwater pipeline, which was put into service in 2011.
