Iberia set to challenge Dutch lead in methane bunkering – Gasnam
Methane industry body Gasnam has highlighted that the Iberian Peninsula is likely to overtake the Netherlands as a bunkering hub for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and its low-emission variants.
IMAGE: Gibraltar city, Bay of Algeciras. Getty images
The Iberian Peninsula forms the western edge of continental Europe, linking the Mediterranean with the Atlantic Ocean. It comprises Spain and Portugal, along with the port of Gibraltar, and sits at a key crossroads for shipping traffic between the Americas, Africa and the rest of Europe.
“Iberia challenges the hegemony of the north of the continent; Gasnam's estimates place the Peninsula as the absolute leader in 2026,” it said.
Ship-to-ship LNG bunkering volumes in the Iberian Peninsula have more than doubled, rising from about 424,000 cbm in 2024 to roughly 894,000 cbm in 2025.
Over the same period, volumes in the Netherlands have edged up by only around 23,000 cbm, increasing from about 966,000 cbm to 989,000 cbm, Gasnam noted, citing a study by Kpler.
The share of biomethane in Iberian bunker volumes reached double-digit levels in 2025, Gasnam added, though it did not specify total volumes.
The group attributed part of the Peninsula’s growth to the concentration of LNG bunkering activity at the Dutch port of Rotterdam, while activity in Iberia is spread across a wider range of ports in Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar.
These ports include Algeciras, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cadiz, Cartagena, Gibraltar, Huelva, Malaga, Tenerife, Sines and Valencia, as well as smaller ports such as Motril and Aveiro.
Gasnam also pointed to the Peninsula’s strategic location on major trade routes, accessible infrastructure and the presence of large fuel production projects in Spain and Portugal as factors supporting its growing role in methane bunkering.
By Konica Bhatt
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