“First Gas” in Wittau: OMV wants to double domestic gas production

Reduce dependence on imports

Representatives from politics and business praised the development of the gas reserves as a key step in reducing import dependency. In the first phase, 11 terawatt hours (TWh) of gas are to be produced for Austria’s supply over ten years.

At the opening ceremony, OMV General Director Alfred Stern emphasized the relevance of the project for the location: “Domestic conventional gas production is not a contradiction to decarbonization. It is a signal for Austria as a location. A functioning energy and heat transition requires reliability, predictability and stable transitional solutions.” OMV board member Berislav Gašo referred to the quick implementation of the 150 million euro project after the 2023 fund: “Wittau is not an abstract promise for the future. Wittau shows what is possible when strategy and implementation come together.”

Stocker: Lift ban on CO2 storage

The gas field is of strategic importance for Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP). It is better to promote “Austrian resources under Austrian environmental and social standards” and to create jobs “than that we build up new dependencies on whomever.” The Chancellor also called for a more open approach to new technologies: “I also think it is right to finally lift the ban on storing CO2. Anyone who wants to keep industrial production and value creation in Austria must not ideologically block future technologies.”

Becoming one of the top 10 industrial nations

Economics Minister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer (ÖVP) saw the start of funding as an important signal for the republic’s competitiveness and the goals formulated in the new industrial strategy: “We want to become one of the top 10 industrial nations in the world again. We have a very clear claim that we want to increase the GDP share of industry from 16 percent to 20 percent.” The price stability of energy and the doubling of the domestic gas supply through projects like Wittau are a basic prerequisite for this.

The Lower Austrian governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP) also called for a “sense of responsibility”, “sense of reality” and “reliability” in energy policy. “As long as we need gas, it is better to produce it domestically than to increase dependence on foreign countries,” explained the state governor. The field in Marchfeld is intended to increase OMV’s domestic gas production by 50 percent and increase the share of Austria’s total self-supply to up to 14 percent upon completion.

Criticism from Greenpeace

The environmental protection organization Greenpeace, which fundamentally rejects the use of natural gas, sees it differently. “Instead of investing in urgently needed climate protection, OMV prefers to invest in expanding its climate-damaging oil and gas business,” criticized Marc Dengler from Greenpeace Austria, according to the statement. This not only exceeds the company’s own climate target, but also makes Austria’s climate neutrality seem a long way off. Only with renewables can our energy supply become independent, secure and crisis-proof in the long term.