DEPA – Sonatrach agreement for a new gas supply contract

By Harry Floudopoulos

According to information, the negotiations of the management of DEPA Commerce with the Algerian Sonatrach for the revision of the gas supply contract had a positive outcome. The same information states that last week the relevant agreement was signed with the Algerian company and provides for the extension of the supply contract by one year. This agreement closes one of the key fronts that remained open for DEPA in terms of the supply contracts it maintains with its key suppliers.

On the other hand, the renewal of the supply contract with the Russian Gazprom remains open, despite the effort made in the context of the meeting of the Greek Prime Minister K. Mitsotakis with the Russian President V. Putin to find a political solution.

According to information, a teleconference of the management of DEPA Commerce with the management of Gazprom is expected to take place within the week in an effort to find a solution at a technocratic level. It is worth noting that the Russian company has requested the change of the current pricing formula (60% weighting of the oil price and 40% weighting of the international gas prices) in order for it to be set at 100% of the international gas prices. . This request is equivalent to a significant increase in the cost of importing natural gas, a fact that explains the official statements of the Greek Prime Minister, after the meeting with the Russian President, where he asked “despite the volatile market conditions, any adjustments to natural gas supply do not deviate significantly from the existing agreement ”.

It is worth noting, however, that sources in the knowledge of the consultation, however, leave open the possibility that in the absence of progress, the solution will be given through the path of international arbitration. It is recalled that in the previous negotiations that took place in 2013 and reached an agreement between DEPA and Gazprom in March 2014, both sides had again reached the brink of recourse to arbitration.

In any case, it is clear that the outcome of the negotiations between DEPA and Gazprom will judge a lot on the front of energy costs, which due to the recent crisis is in the spotlight. Besides, Gazprom is the main supplier of natural gas for our country, having exported in the 11 months of 2021 more than 3 billion cubic meters, a quantity that exceeds the total deliveries of the Russian company in Greece in 2020.