Spain’s gas imports from Russia tumbled 40.7% in August from the same month a year ago as the Iberian country imported 11.2% less gas overall during the month, Cores, an arm of the energy and environment ministry, said in a statement on Monday.

As a result, the share of Russian gas in total imports of the fuel – Spain relies entirely on foreign gas – fell to 9.8% in August from 14.7% in the same month in 2022.

While Russian energy revenues have suffered since Western powers hit Moscow with tough economic sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, sales of liquefied natural gas (LNG) still earn Russia billions of dollars.

The European Union has a goal of weaning itself off Russian fossil fuels by 2027, but the bloc is still paying large sums for Russian LNG.

Last month, Spain’s Energy Minister Teresa Ribera said the EU had no plan in the short term to ban Russian LNG imports as this could trigger a price spike.

In August, Spain imported the equivalent of 33,795 gigawatt-hours of natural gas, Cores said. The United States was its main supplier, accounting for 32.2% of the total, followed by Algeria.
Source: Reuters