Spain’s natural gas imports in November rose 18.7% from a year earlier led by a jump in liquefied natural gas (LNG) buying, government data showed on Wednesday.

Spain imported 36.88 gigawatt hours (GWh) of natural gas in November, the data from Cores, an arm of the Energy and Environment Ministry, showed.

LNG shipments jumped by 53% to account for just over two thirds of the imports while piped imports fell by 17%, Cores said.

Europe’s gas imports and reserves have been in focus in recent months as a supply crunch has sent power prices to record highs.

Algeria’s decision in November to shut a pipeline that supplies Spain via Morocco has aggravated the situation.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mariana Ferreira Azevedo; editing by Nathan Allen and Jason Neely)