The Austrian ruling coalition has added a provision on stopping imports of Russian gas in 2027 to the country's new security strategy, Kurier reported.
According to the latest estimate, Russian gas accounts for 80-90% of Austria's gas pipelines.
According to Kurier, in 2023, Austria may have transferred about 4 billion euros to Gazprom to pay for gas.
The Austrian government believes that dependence on Russian gas poses a threat to the country's economy. Once supply from Russia is cut off, gas prices will skyrocket for households and the industrial sector. Therefore, the Austrian government is advising that this risk "should be mitigated through a lack of control".
In June 2018, Gazprom Export and Austria's OMV Gas Marketing & GmbH Trading signed an agreement to extend the existing contract for the supply of Russian gas to Austria until 2040.
Austria is currently the EU country most dependent on Russian gas, and is seen as a remaining gateway for Russian gas to Europe, Reuters reported.
A study by DIW Germany in May this year found that in Austria's annual consumption, Russian gas accounts for 95%, while in the remaining EU countries this rate is 14%.
Austria's Baumgarten center near the border with Slovakia receives Russian gas via Ukraine as well as gas from Norway and other countries.
Before 2022, the annual gas flow here was equivalent to 390 terawatt hours (TWh), said the gas Connect Austria operator.
Austria can supply gas to the Czech Republic, Italy and Eastern and Southeastern Europe and continues to be an important connecting point after the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines on the Baltic Sea have stopped operating, as well as as as the volume of the Yamal transit route from Russia to Poland and other connecting routes between Germany and the Czech Republic is decreasing.
Ukraine has announced that it has no plans to extend or sign a new agreement with Russia's Gazprom when the Russian gas transit contract to Europe expires at the end of this year.
This has prompted Austria and other countries receiving Russian gas via the pipeline to seek other solutions to replace lost supplies.
In February 2024, the Austrian Energy Minister informed that the country wanted to end its dependence on Russian gas, including terminating OMV's long-term contract with Gazprom. In July this year, the Austrian Energy Agency said it would consider a gas contract between OMV and Gazprom to cancel it.
Austria's gas consumption in 2023 is 75 terawatts per hour, down 17.5% year-on-year. Meanwhile, Germany used 813 terawatts per hour last year.
OMV accounts for 40% of the gas market share in Austria. The company said it would take alternatives to lost Russian gas supplies from its production facilities located in Norway, Austria and supplies from global markets.
OMV has LNG capacity at the GATE port warehouse in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, which has the ability to access the common gas purchasing platform of the EU and all European markets, as well as have corresponding transportation capacity.
