In an effort to combat rising oil prices worldwide due to the Middle East unrest, Spain has announced a series of energy saving measures. These include cuts in the speed limit and also lower priced train tickets in a move to get its citizens to use more of the public transport facilities.

Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said, “The goal is to reduce the consumption of oil and gas to reduce our energy bill which has risen in recent days and which we do not forecast will drop.” The Deputy Prime Minister also added that the measures are just temporary, though he did not clarify as to till when these will be in effect.

Spain is one of the biggest users of fossil fuels in the European Union for meeting its energy requirements and the sudden rise in oil prices due to the severe unrest in the Middle East has added the pressure on the country’s trade deficit, not to mention the increase in pressure on Spain’s inflation.

The energy saving measures will come into effect from March 7th. Under these, the speed limit on Spanish highways will be brought down to 110 kilometers (68 miles) per hour from the present 120 kph.

Spain will also require an average of 7.0 percent of renewable content in all diesel and gasoline, up from 5.8 percent.

Further, state-owned rail network Renfe will be lowering its ticket prices for short- and medium-haul trips as well as on suburban commuter trains by up to five percent.

In terms of global oil prices, on February 25, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April rose 76 cents to $112.12 per barrel – the highest level since August 22, 2008 – before sliding back on profit-taking as supply worries persisted amid the escalating violence in oil-rich Libya.

According to government sources, Spain imports about 13 percent of its oil from Libya and around 35 percent of its gas from Algeria. However, in spite of shutdowns by oil companies operating in Libya, Rubalcaba said that Spain’s energy supply was not in danger, although the national energy bill would rise significantly because of higher petroleum prices. He said that a one euro per barrel increase in oil prices would cost Spain an extra 500 million Euros per month.

“We are going to go a bit slower and in exchange for that we are going to consume less petrol and therefore pay less money,” Perez Rubalcaba said.

The country has oil reserves that would last for over 90 days, Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian had said earlier in the week.

In spite of the booming wind power industry in Spain, the country’s high dependence on fossil fuels is going to prove expensive during this time of unrest in the Middle East and the rise in global oil prices.

Source: energybusinessdaily.com