Madrid and Rabat reactivated on Tuesday the Maghreb-European gas pipeline to pump gas from Spain to Morocco, Spanish media reported.
The same sources said that both countries reactivated the gas pipeline coinciding with the NATO summit in Madrid, adding that Rabat will depend on this pipeline to import natural gas from Spanish stations after buying it from the international market.
This move from Rabat in agreement with Madrid came after 8 months after the Algerian decision not to renew the contract of using the Maghreb-European gas pipeline for transporting natural gas to Spain through Morocco due to the diplomatic crisis between Algeria and Rabat.
The Algerian decision meant a stop of gas supplies for Morocco, so the kingdom had to find new suppliers, therefore it decided to go to the global market to sign contracts for selling liquid natural gas (LNG) for the first time in its history.
Morocco headed to Spain to use its stations to convert LNG to natural gas, then pump it through the Maghreb-European pipeline to Morocco.
Algeria has recently warned Spain that it would cut gas supplies if Madrid exported the Algerian gas to Morocco, and the Spanish third vice-president, Teresa Ribera, affirmed that the Algerian gas will not be exported to Morocco and the latter will buy LNG from the global market and will transport from Spain.
