The Minister for the Ecological Transition and Fourth Vice President of the Government, Teresa Ribera, rules out the construction of a gas pipeline between Barcelona and Livorno (Italy) after the BarMar agreement, the project that will link Barcelona and Marseille . According to her, ” it doesn’t make much sense to do another underwater pipeline . The connection to Marseille is shorter and cheaper.”
Regarding the possible tensions that may arise with Italy as a result of this decision, Ribera assures, in an interview granted to the newspaper La Vanguardia , that “the Italian Government knew that an agreement with France could be reached”. Likewise, the minister reiterates that “Spain maintains all its commitments of solidarity with this country to send liquefied natural gas by ship from the ports of Barcelona and Cartagena”.
Asked about the next steps to follow, the fourth vice president of the Government points out that it is time to specify the details of the infrastructure in order to present a first project to the European Commission at the beginning of December. Regarding the deadlines, Ribera says that it could be ready in four or five years. On the other hand, she does not dare to give an approximate figure of how much the BarMar will cost: “I would like to be very cautious on this matter. Let’s wait for the technical studies.”
Regarding the fall in gas prices, Ribera warns that the situation that has occurred this week does not necessarily imply that the situation will continue throughout the winter. “There may be spikes and price increases in the coming months ,” says the socialist leader.
Among the causes, the minister mentions the high temperatures recorded in southern Europe throughout the month of October, the decline in industrial activity and the fact that the “most concerned” countries have chosen to fill their warehouses “by paying High prices”. According to her, the result is that the gas reserves on the continent “are full” .
On the other hand, the minister points out that, with the agreement reached to intervene in the gas market, what has been decided is “to ask the European Commission to present a price index different from the current one”. In that sense, she confirms that it will go over the Dutch index (TTF) to create “a corridor of minimum and maximum prices”, as well as a joint purchasing platform, just what Spain “had been defending for months”. Likewise, the application of a cap on the cost of this energy for the manufacture of electricity will be evaluated, she adds.
