Failure however will almost certainly lead to price changes in Portugal
Portugal’s environment minister has said the government “wants to believe” that Nigeria, currently its main natural gas supplier, will fulfill supply contracts. But it has to acknowledge that the risk of non-compliance “could lead to price changes in Portugal”.
This is exactly what was warned by Expresso columnist Helena Matos earlier this month.
“We made a visit (to Nigeria) and we want to believe our suppliers,” Duarte Cordeiro said referring to the recent visit by energy secretary João Galamba in the company of GALP CEO Andy Brown.
“But there is a risk that they will not comply,” he admitted at the conference on energy transition today organised today by CNN and PwC.
If that risk materialises, there could be “more expensive gas,” or “price changes in the national market.”
Duarte Cordeiro stressed the country does have other natural gas suppliers, “which it has sought to diversify”, says Lusa.
In this sense, it is “very important” that the European Commission moves forwards with joint purchasing platforms.
But, just to show the consequences of already notorious ‘interruptions’ in supplies from Nigeria to the Iberian Peninsula, GALP CEO Andy Brown explained that his company ‘lost’ €135 million in the first half of this year alone.
He told the conference he also fears that natural gas prices could rise with the revision of contracts with Nigerian suppliers.
All in all, the warnings sounded in Expresso’s column “Nigerian fraudsters strike again, only this time they are Portuguese” look like they were pretty much spot on. Another moment where assurances given by Portuguese leaders appear to have been rooted in quicksand.
