Gazoduc Maghreb Europe (GME): another gas transit headache for Europe?

As natural gas hub prices in Europe continue their extremely bullish rally driven by buoyant global gas demand and short-term supply constraints, the last thing European markets need is a choke point emerging along the south-western Mediterranean gas supply routes. In this context, the trade press has raised concerns about a possible non-renewal of the gas transit agreement for the Maghreb Europe gas pipeline (better known by its French acronym of GME) that supplies Algerian gas to the Iberian Peninsula through Morocco and the Straits of Gibraltar. But are these concerns justified? This OIES Comment argues that in the medium- to long-term they are not.

By: Mostefa Ouki