With some airlines already cancelling flights due to shortages of jet fuel, energy and environment minister, Maria Graca Carvalho, said today in Porto de Mos that Portuguese energy company Galp can guarantee aviation fuel supply “until the summer peak.”
“Galp’s CEO told us during our meeting two or three days ago that they can manage perfectly until the summer peak,” meaning “early or mid-August,” she said.
“They have a large production capacity, the raw material they receive comes essentially from the Atlantic and, from Galp’s point of view, we still have enough for several months.”.
Meetings between the government, Galp and Spanish energy company Repsol resulted in the understanding that “the situation in the Iberian Peninsula is much more comfortable than in the rest of Europe, and many parts of the world.”
The minister is also calm regarding electricity because renewables account for more than 80% of production.
Regarding “diesel and jet (fuel), in the Iberian Peninsula, there are eight or nine refineries, one here and the rest in Spain. (…) We are in a more comfortable position, but we are not immune to impacts,” she acknowledged, stressing that because international flights arrive in Portugal, a global shortage, if this transpires, would affect the domestic economy, because other airlines face restrictions and “will not be able to reach us”.
“The world is global, for better or worse,” said the minister – thus despite Portugal and Spain being “relatively better off than others,” both countries remain subject to the possibility of “a major crisis.
“If Lufthansa is affected, and the French, the UK and the rest of the world’s planes are affected, of course we will suffer,” because “we are all interconnected.”
However, “the commitment we have made to renewable energy, to the production of renewable gases here, and now to SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) – which we do not yet produce in large quantities, but which is a commitment of ours – is bearing fruit and shows that it is the right path, also in terms of security of supply when there is a crisis”, she concluded.
The minister’s comments came just as Iran has announced the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic (as a result of the Israeli agreement to stop attacking Lebanon) – and the announcement that next week will see a profound drop in the price of diesel, slightly less so for petrol.
Source: LUSA
