Algeria’s key gas customers Spain and Italy drastically reduced their gas imports in the first half of 2020, with combined pipeline supplies to both countries slumping by 37% to 6.9bcm on the year.
Algerian gas exports already had a tough year in 2019, as both Italy and Spain (which are directly linked to Algeria via undersea pipelines and took 61% of Algeria’s exports) turned to the overflowing markets for cheaper LNG (MEES, 26 June). Any hopes of a 2020 turnaround were dashed when the Coronavirus pandemic sapped global demand for oil and gas. And it didn’t help that both Italy and Spain were initially among the worst hit by the outbreak. (CONTINUED - 809 WORDS)
