Prime Minister Robert Abela announced today that the government has signed an LNG purchase deal with BP. He announced this on the Labour Party’s radio station and not through official channels. He did not give any details about the deal.
The Energy Minister also said that the deal was chosen among seven offers.
The gas purchase deal is intended to supply the Electrogas power station, and it is confusing as to why the government negotiated with BP instead of negotiating with the electricity supplier, Electrogas.
Does this mean that the government does not even trust Electrogas?
The government lost a lot of money with its previous gas and oil supply deals. Previous gas supply deals were pegged to Brent crude price increases, falsely claiming that this was a hedge. This was not a hedge — it was a directional bet favouring movements in oil prices as opposed to changes in gas prices.
The government is also spreading the fake idea that it was difficult to acquire energy supplies due to the Iran war. This is deliberately false. Malta was never in a position in which it could fail to secure oil and gas supplies. Oil and gas supplies are always available for sale on the open market, and it is just a matter of how much they are priced. There were, and there are, no issues of lack of supply.
The government is keeping these energy deals secret against the backdrop of widespread corruption in the sector.
In every EU member state, the details of energy procurement are public, and only Malta is withholding these details.
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