Algeria Stops Gas Deliveries To Spain Via Morocco - Presidency

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st November, 2021) Algeria is halting gas deliveries to Spain via a pipeline that runs through Morocco starting from Monday, President of Algeria Abdelmadjid Tebboune said.

The decision was made in response to Morocco's "aggressive actions" against Algeria, the presidency said in a statement, as quoted by the TSA news outlet on Sunday.

According to the release, Tebboune ordered state energy firm Sonatrach to halt gas exports to Spain via the Gaz-Maghreb-Europe (GME) pipeline. The GME contract expires at midnight on Sunday and it will not be renewed, according to the Algerian presidency.

Meanwhile, the Moroccan National Office for Electricity and Potable Water (ONEE) said as cited by the Moroccan News Agency (MAP) that the termination of gas deliveries will not have a very significant impact.

In late August, Algiers announced that it was severing diplomatic ties with Morocco due to the neighbor's "hostile actions" since the day of independence. Rabat responded by slamming the move as "unjustified and regrettable." The two North African nations have long been at odds over control of Western Sahara.