RUSSIA INTERRUPTS GAS DELIVERY TO THIS EUROPEAN COUNTRY: The reason is the fabulous amount of debt

RUSSIA will cut gas supplies to Austria after the country’s energy company OMV was awarded more than 230 million euros in damages in a dispute with Russian energy giant Gazprom.

According to local media, OMV wants to set off the claim against payment obligations to the gas supplier. In response, Gazprom is now halting deliveries. OMV buys about four to five terawatt hours (TVh) of gas from Russia per month, and the 230 million euros allocated now roughly corresponds to this amount.

OMV: “We have been preparing for this for three years”

However, the impact on Austria’s gas supply is limited, as OMV CEO Alfred Stern explained on Thursday. The oil and gas company has been preparing for this scenario for three years.

Alternative sources

Alternative gas comes from Norway, from domestic production or in the form of liquefied natural gas shipped via Germany or Italy. And gas storage facilities, with 95 terawatt hours, would cover domestic demand for several months.

The energy regulator “E-Control” also does not expect a gas shortage in Austria. The measures in Austria are sufficient to ensure gas supply for the next two winters, said E-Control board member Alfons Haber. Gas storage facilities in Austria and other EU countries are over 90 percent full.

Photo: N. Paraušić

Energy Minister Leonore Gevesler (Greens) also assured that Austria had been preparing for this situation for a long time.

– Our energy supply is secure. The actions of the Russian Gazprom today once again prove that Russia is not a partner. But tomorrow also marks the end of a danger. If we no longer receive Russian supplies, we will no longer be subject to blackmail – the minister added.

But even without the decision of the arbitration court, the cooperation that has existed since 1968 would have ended at the beginning of next year — because at the end of the year the transit contract for the delivery of Russian natural gas through the pipeline through Ukraine and Slovakia expires.

Will gas prices rise now?

However, the supply interruption could lead to an increase in gas prices in Austria. Haber did not want to make any predictions in this regard. A megawatt hour of natural gas currently costs around 45 euros on the stock market. However, prices of over 300 euros, as in mid-2022, are not to be expected.

(Krone)