|Spain Table of Contents Spain is poor in energy resources, with
the exception of coal. Rapid industrial growth has intensified
the problems caused by insufficient oil reserves, dwindling
supplies of easily accessible high-quality coal, and inadequate
water for power generation. Until the early 1980s, Spain
increasingly depended upon imported petroleum, and overall
energy consumption continued to grow in the 1973-79 period.
Following adjustment to a slower rate of economic growth and to
the changed energy market of the 1970s, Spanish energy
consumption declined in the early 1980s. The National Energy
Plan (Plan Energetico Nacional--PEN), the basic statement of
official energy policy, was first formulated in 1978. Revised in
1983 to cover the 1984-93 period, the new PEN aimed at a
rationalization of energy consumption and a reduction in Spain's
dependence on imported energy. It pressed, in addition, for a
reorganization of the oil industry and for a financial
reorganization of the electricity industry. In cont