A gas pressure-gauge shows how much natural gas a station contains from Russia’s state-owned Gazprom, which is ending natural gas deliveries to Austria after Saturday. File photo by Roman Pilipey/EPA-EFE
Nov. 16 (UPI) — Russia’s state-owned natural gas supplier said it won’t send any more gas to Austria after Saturday, but Austrian officials say that won’t be a problem.
Gazprom officials announced they will cease delivering natural gas to Austria as winter approaches, but officials at Austrian energy company OMV said they expected the change and will continue receiving natural gas from Italy, Germany and the Netherlands, Bloomberg reported.
Austria has a suitable supply of alternative fuels and “no one will freeze” this winter, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Friday.
“Our gas storage facilities are full and we have sufficient capacity to obtain gas from other regions,” Nehammer said.
Gazprom is ceasing natural gas deliveries after the International Chamber of Commerce sided with OMV in a pricing dispute with Gazprom.
The ICC awarded $242 million to OMV in an arbitration, and OMV officials said the Austrian energy firm won’t pay Gazprom until OMV receives an amount of natural gas equal to the $242million award.
OMV is Austria’s largest energy provider, and Austria is one of three European Union countries that purchase natural gas from Russia.
Gazprom supplied about 98% of Austria’s natural gas in December, and Austrian officials on February announced it would require domestic energy companies to gradually end their purchased of Russian-sourced gas and find alternative sources.
News of Gazprom’s pending cessation of natural gas deliveries to Austria prompted a 2.7% rise in European gas futures to $50.08 per megawatt-hour on Friday.