The government said on Tuesday that Galp will have to buy gas to “meet customers and legal responsibilities” given Nigeria’s supply difficulties, but it has removed significant billing and delivery implications.
“What is important to clarify is that the Galp company will have to buy natural gas on the market to satisfy its customers and their legal responsibilities with the regulated tariff”declared the Minister of Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro.
Speaking to Portuguese journalists in Luxembourg, at the end of a meeting of European Union energy ministers, the official pointed out that Europe “at a time when the price of gas was falling” […]because many countries have already filled their storage and there is therefore more supply than demand and therefore the price falls”.
“What Galp has to do, if it has supply breakdowns from a supplier, is go to the market to buy gas and as the price of gas is cheaper at the moment I think it will have marginal effects from the point of view of the influence of price”stressed Duarte Cordeiro, at a time when the floods have reduced production and supply of gas in Nigeria, which could affect supply in Portugal.
Already asked about possible consequences for customer invoices, the minister said: “I doubt the impact will be very big because gas prices are much lower than they were and have been very low in recent days.”
With regard to potential delivery issues, Duarte Cordeiro indicated that, despite: “there are outages from some supplier, as there seems to be no shortage in the market at the moment, [estas] can be filled”.
In addition, the official stressed that Portugal already has a “package of measures to prepare for winter”as a focus on gas storage, renewable energies and campaigns to encourage consumption savings.
“Measures that generally protect us”Advanced.
The current Portuguese reserve “it takes about a month, a month and a half from a consumption point of view”said Duarte Cordeiro.
In mid-month, it was announced that Nigeria LNG Limited had warned Galp of “a significant reduction in liquefied natural gas production and supply” as a result of rains and floods in West and Central Africa, which could threaten supplies in Portugal. , according to a note the Portuguese company sent to the Securities Market Commission.
Following this information to the market, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action announced that: “There is currently no confirmation of a reduction in gas supplies from Nigeria”stating that there is still no “deficit in the market”.
The warning came at a time of an energy crisis in the European Union, accentuated by the effects of the war in Ukraine, and as the European Commission makes progress on measures to tackle high prices and supply problems, namely from Russia. , where Portugal does not depend. However.
On Monday, Galp admitted the cancellation of yet another supply of liquefied natural gas from Nigeria, scheduled for the end of October, but guarantees that it has already secured the purchase of this volume in the market and has not foreseen further cancellations.
Source: DN
