In April 2023 Spain markedly increased its intake of liquefied natural gas from Russia, reporting a rise of nearly 99 percent compared with the same month a year earlier. The figure comes from Enagas, the Spanish gas transmission operator, which tracks LNG volumes and provides insights into how Europe sources its energy. The latest data show that Spain imported 6,513 gigawatt-hours of LNG transported from Russia during that month, underscoring a notable shift in the country’s energy mix at a time when European buyers were recalibrating supply relationships across multiple suppliers.
Looking at the broader context for 2023, Russia ranked third among Spain’s LNG suppliers, trailing Algeria and the United States. Cumulatively, during the first four months of the year, Spain’s LNG purchases from the Russian Federation reached 23,810 gigawatt-hours, a rise of about 118 percent compared with the same period in 2022. This trend highlights how fluctuations in global energy markets and the evolving dynamics of European energy security influenced trade patterns across the Iberian Peninsula and beyond.
The discussion around these shifts has drawn attention from policymakers and analysts concerned about energy resilience. In March, commentators warned that a sharp increase in LNG imports from Russia into Europe could become a potential leverage point for Moscow, particularly as the continent prepares for next winter and seeks to build robust storage levels. Observers argued that energy exports might be used as a tool of political influence if supply constraints or price pressures intensify, prompting a debate over diversification strategies, storage readiness, and the diversification of routes for gas deliveries within the European Union.
Analyses from Bruegel, a renowned European think tank, indicate that Russia supplied a substantial portion of LNG to Europe during the preceding year. In 2022, European buyers collectively sourced a significant volume of LNG from Russia, illustrating the continent’s ongoing dependency on a broad range of suppliers. The evolving picture in 2023 reflects how European nations continued to navigate the complexities of global energy markets, seeking to balance security of supply with the pressures of price volatility and geopolitical risk. This landscape remains central to discussions about energy strategy, diversification, and resilience planning across both the United States and Canada, where energy trade and policy considerations increasingly intersect with global supply trends.