Russian gas flows to Austria were suspended for a second day in a row on November 17 due to a price dispute, but other European buyers stepped in to buy up the unsold gas, Reuters reported.
Before the Ukraine conflict, Russia was Europe’s largest gas supplier. However, Moscow has lost most of its buyers on the continent as the EU tries to reduce its dependence on Russian energy.
Despite this, Russian gas is still being sold in significant volumes to Slovakia and Hungary, as well as to the Czech Republic – a country with no direct contracts. Smaller volumes are sold to Italy and Serbia.
On November 16, Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom stopped supplying OMV after the Austrian company threatened to seize some of Gazprom's gas to compensate for an arbitration case it had won.
Gazprom confirmed that gas flows to Austria remained suspended on November 17, but total daily supplies to Europe via Ukraine - the main transit route for Russian gas to the EU - remained at 42.4 million cubic metres per day, equivalent to the usual volume.
Austria was receiving 17 billion cubic metres a day before the cutoff, and that volume is finding new buyers in Europe.
Slovakia's state-owned SPP said it was still receiving gas from Russia and suggested other companies were scrambling to buy more because Russian gas in Europe was still "at great interest".
According to a source familiar with the matter, Russian gas is still cheaper than many other sources, so the Austrian volumes were quickly resold and parties competed to buy them.
The source declined to name the companies that made the purchases, while Austria said it had ample gas reserves to make up for the shortfall and could import from Germany and Italy if needed.
The European gas market is highly sensitive to geopolitical developments and supply issues, especially as the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine is scheduled to end by the end of this year.
Colder temperatures in Europe also boosted heating demand, leading to gas being drawn from EU reserves earlier than last year.
Natural gas futures at the Dutch TTF hub closed at 45.72 euros per megawatt hour on November 16, the highest in nearly a year.
At its peak, Russia supplied 35% of Europe's gas, but since the Ukraine conflict began in 2022, Gazprom has lost market share to Norway, the US and Qatar.
Gazprom's remaining gas flows to Europe are not expected to continue for much longer, as the Soviet-era pipeline through Ukraine is set to close at the end of this year because Kiev is unwilling to extend the transit agreement.
The Yamal-Europe pipeline through Belarus has been shut down following a dispute, while Russia has blamed the US and UK for explosions under the Baltic Sea that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
Washington and London have denied the allegations. The Wall Street Journal reported that Ukrainian officials were behind the Nord Stream attack, but Kiev also denied that.
If Ukraine closes the gas transit route, significant supplies of Russian gas will go mainly to Slovakia and Hungary via the TurkStream pipeline running mainly through Türkiye.
