The liquefied natural gas tanker buildup crisis in Spain has begun to ease, after being stranded off Spanish ports for weeks.
Today, Friday November 25 (2022), the Spanish company Enagas said that the crisis is seeing a significant improvement, according to the agency. Reuters.
And he revealed that it has become possible to implement all of the company’s operations on the specified date and there is no need to extend the exceptional procedures.
This came after Enagas issued exceptional operating procedures on October 17 (2022), due to the unexpected filling of liquefied gas tanks in its Spanish ports and the impact of moderate weather on fuel demand.
Although the company, which manages the natural gas network in Spain, I expected the situation to end in early November (2022); It lasted about 4 weeks and resulted in a delay in unloading the tankers on schedule, according to the specialist energy platform.
The crisis of the accumulation of liquefied gas carriers
Ships loaded with liquefied gas had been waiting for weeks to be landed in a port in the Gulf of Cadiz; This has led to lower prices in the Iberian market (Spain and Portugal).
Dozens of ships loaded with liquefied gas off the coast of Europe have failed to secure the unloading boxes.
Europe is facing a shortage of supplies after Moscow decided to cut flows Gas In response to the West’s imposition of sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.
The region had to find alternative supplies, but the arrival of large numbers of LNG shipments revealed Europe’s inability to regasify.
The shipment backlog has also raised concerns about the continent’s ability to process supplies liquefied gas Necessary to make up for shortages in pipeline supplies.
As the crisis worsened, Enagas announced an exceptional operational situation. It will have to refuse to unload liquefied gas because the tankers exceed the capacity of their stations.
The crisis was the result of falling demand due to the slowdown in the European economy, as well as lower-than-expected domestic consumption in Spain due to unseasonably warm weather.
Surprise fees
Spain was among the countries that agreed to extraordinary taxes on profits made energy companies.
In the latest development, Finance Minister María Jesus Montero said the Spanish government would raise about 400 million euros ($416 million) less than expected from the windfall profit tax bill approved by the House of Representatives during its first reading. Friday, November 25 (2022), which means that the changes will reduce the amount to €3.6 billion.
(euros = 1.04 USD)
The government had to backtrack and make changes to please some regional parties in northern Spain, which have a large presence of energy companies, before voting to exempt regulated businesses and offshore operations run by large utility companies.
Several energy companies have threatened to sue the government if it agrees to levy a 1.2% tax on sales of utilities.
Initially, the government aimed to raise €4 billion in 2023 and 2024 from taxes on energy companies as part of its efforts to mitigate rising energy prices and inflation, particularly on low-income households.
position of energy companies
Before the amendments, Spanish power company Endesa, owned by Italy’s Enel, said it could lose around 300 million euros a year to the tax, while Iberdrola could lose 400 million euros and Spanish gas group and Naturgy electricity could suffer about 300 million euros.
Waiting for an oil giant repsol A loss estimated at 800 million euros.
Analysts expect energy companies to continue challenging the tax in court even after the amendments.
The bill will now be sent to the Senate for approval or returned to the House of Representatives if the senators make amendments.
The European Central Bank has previously criticized the tax on banks, warning it could damage the capital position of lenders and disrupt monetary policy.
Bank officials believe the fee could hamper credit for an economy that is still struggling to recover from the pandemic and faces the headwinds of war in Ukraine.
Lenders say higher interest rates, as are happening in Europe, don’t necessarily lead to additional profits.
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