Austria is currently the European Union (EU) country with the most connections to Russian gas. Several other countries in the bloc have stopped buying Russian goods since the energy crisis in 2022.
Reuters said that Austria currently acts as a remaining gateway to bring Russian gas to Europe.
Austria receives the majority of its gas from Russia despite trying to change direction after decades of dependence.
Research from DIW Germany on May 23 shows that the share of Russian gas in Austria's annual consumption is 95% while other EU countries have a share of 14%. The EU has not yet officially banned the transport of Russian gas via pipelines.
Austria's Baumgarten center near the border with Slovakia receives Russian gas via Ukraine. The center also receives gas from Norway and other countries.
Before the conflict in Ukraine in 2022, the annual amount of Russian gas to the Baumgarten center was equivalent to 390 terawatt hours (TWh), gas Connect Austria operator informed.
Austria has the ability to supply gas to the Czech Republic, Italy and southeastern Europe, and is still an important gas hub after the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea stopped operating, the amount of gas via the Yamal transit route from Russia to Poland and other pipelines in the Czech Republic linked to Germany has decreased.
Russia also continues to send gas to Romania and Turkey as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG) to European ports.
However, Ukraine has no plans to extend or sign a new agreement on the transit of Russian gas to Europe after the 5-year agreement with Gazprom expires at the end of this year.
This has prompted Austria and other countries receiving Russian gas via Ukraine to prepare and consider alternatives to lost supplies.
In February this year, the Austrian Energy Minister affirmed that Austria wanted to end its dependence on Russian gas, including terminating OMV's long-term contract to buy gas from Gazprom.
In 2023, Austria consumed 75 terawatts of gas nationwide, down 17.5% year-on-year, according to the Austrian energy agency. Meanwhile, last year Germany consumed 813 terawatts per hour.
Austria's electronic gas trading platform is the Central Highlands Gas Center (CEGH). The virtual exchange point serving 319 CEGH customers has received an order of 575.1 terawatts in 2023. This figure shows the role of CEGH in particular and Austria in general in gas circulation in the region.
OMV, which accounts for 40% of the gas market share in Austria, said it will have an alternative gas supply to the lost supply from Russia, from OMV's production facilities in Norway, Austria and the global market.
At the GATE port warehouse in Rotterdam, OMV can access the EU's common gas purchasing platform and have the capacity to access all European markets as well as the corresponding transportation capability.
Austria's energy regulatory agency E-Control said that in the gas supply scenarios for the winter of 2024/2025 and the winter of 2025/2026, Gazprom's suspension of exports has been taken into account.
Austria has alternative gas import routes available via Italy and Germany, while Austrian power companies have taken preventive measures as Russian gas supplies stop.
