Austria Seeking to Terminate Gas Supply Contracts With Russia's Gazprom - Energy Minister
20240212
VIENNA (Sputnik) - Vienna is looking into the possibility of terminating gas supply agreements between Austrian oil, gas and petrochemical company OMV and Russia's energy giant Gazprom and will study all available withdrawal options, Austrian Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler said on Monday.
"To opt out of Russian gas supplies, as it is presupposed in Austria and at the EU level, it is necessary to study and realize all options for terminating the agreement," Gewessler told a news conference.
Austria's energy minister said that one of the reasons for the EU country's "high-level dependence" on Russian gas was the OMV-Gazprom agreement, which provided for fixed obligations for the purchase of Russian gas.
In July 2023, OMV CEO Alfred Stern said that the company would continue to buy a major part of its gas from Russia and was not planning to terminate its long-term contract with Gazprom despite securing alternative contracts from other sources to cover Austria's energy imports needs. In September, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said that OMV had supply contracts with Gazprom until 2040, and terminating them would be too expensive for Austria.
Reducing energy dependence on Russia became one of the EU's top priorities after the start of Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, when the bloc decided to phase out its imports of Russian fuels. The decision led to a sharp rise in gas prices in the bloc. To curb the price hike, the European Commission presented several measures, including joint purchasing, price caps and increased energy conservation efforts.
Additionally, as part of these efforts, the bloc has boosted energy cooperation with a number of countries, including the United States, Algeria and Nigeria, with a particular focus on LNG imports.
© Sputnik
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