In order to reduce gas dependence on the Russian Federation, Spain, France, and Portugal agreed to sign a formal agreement, according to which European countries will receive gas from Algeria.
This decision diversifies the sources of gas, which, in turn, will significantly reduce the confrontation in the energy sector between the Russian Federation and the EU.
A meeting of energy ministers was planned, at which the main topic of discussion will be the MidCat gas pipeline, the branch of which ends in Ostalrique (Spain).
Spain will be represented at the meeting by the Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism Jose Manuel Soria, France - Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy Segolene Royal.
To date, MidCat has a throughput of 5.36 billion cubic meters. If the planned completion of the gas pipeline will be completed, its capacity will be around 15.1 billion cubic meters.
Despite the fact that Algeria is in the tenth place in terms of natural gas reserves, its pipeline capacity is only used half. According to the calculations of economists, in 2013, only 25 billion cubic meters of gas were used for gas exports of the possible 54 billion cubic meters.