According to E-Control, gas supply secured for two cold winters

Even if the Ukraine from January 1, 2025 no Russian gas Should more be allowed through to the west, there will be no gas shortage in Austria in the next two winters, we are assured E-Control board member Alfons Haber. “Imports of Russian gas via Ukraine and Slovakia to Baumgarten can be completely replaced by imports via Germany and Italy,” Haber told journalists in Vienna on Monday evening.

Over Deutschland would above all Norwegian pipeline gas and US-LNG come. In the Italian gas market are algerisches Pipelinegas and LNG deliveries the essential sources. For Austria important LNG terminals are located in Holland, Belgium and Deutschland as well as in Northern Italy. In Belgium and Italy it is mainly gas Train. According to E-Control, the share of US LNG in Belgium is around 20 percent and in Italy around 40 percent.

From 2027 onwards, the import route via Germany is also planned to be strengthened with the WAG loop expansion, which will increase the import capacity from Germany to 117 TWh per year, said Haber. In addition, Austria has built up a strategic gas reserve of 20 TWh and spent 3.95 billion euros on it. The obligation to maintain this state reserve has been extended by the National Council until April 1, 2026.

Gas storage 90 percent full

According to Haber, a total of around 92 TWh of gas is stored in the Austrian gas storage facilities and the storage facilities are 90 percent full. Recently, however, there have been “false reports” that only a small proportion of the gas in the storage facilities would be available for the Austrian market, the energy regulator said angrily. In fact, of the 92 TWh stored, around 33 TWh are reserved for Austrian end customers, and a further 16 TWh will “most likely” remain on the Austrian gas market. Some of the storage capacities are used by foreign – mostly German – storage customers. “They also have the opportunity to trade the quantities on the virtual trading platform in Austria – that means also via the stock exchange – and make them available to Austrian gas customers. The main point as to whether they do this is the price difference on the wholesale markets. ”

The gas storage facilities are operated by OMV and RAG Austria. Gas from the RAG Haidach storage facility is now also connected to the Austrian long-distance pipeline network and the gas distribution network. Tyrol and Vorarlberg are supplied with natural gas via Germany.

US sanctions against Gazprombank

It is still unclear whether the expiry of the gas transit contract between Ukraine and Russia will change anything at all. The Ukrainian pipeline operator could offer transport capacities to traders who buy Russian gas via a booking platform, Millgramm explained. Whether someone has secured capacity will probably only be found out shortly before the turn of the year. “In any case, we don’t know.” Further uncertainty for gas flows arises from the US sanctions against Russia’s Gazprombank, which will apply from December 20th, through which payments between Gazprom Export and its trading partners in Europe and the EU are processed.

According to E-Control, the increase in wholesale prices in recent weeks will initially only have a “marginal” impact on household prices, as procurement has already taken place and the majority of household customers have fixed price contracts.

The fact that the gas price level in Europe could rise as a result of turning away from Russian gas is generally not discussed. In the past, it was undisputed that Russian gas tended to be cheaper than gas from other sources, particularly Norway or Holland. Russia has lower production costs compared to many other countries and exported natural gas under long-term supply contracts with prices often linked to oil prices. Neighboring countries such as Belarus and Ukraine with close economic ties to Russia received gas significantly cheaper than Western European countries. However, in recent years, especially after the annexation of Crimea and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, prices for Russian gas on international markets have risen significantly. Haber explained that pricing has also changed over the last 20 years as a result of the liberalization of the gas market. Price formation is currently taking place on the stock exchange. The stock exchange is also the basis for pricing in many bilateral contracts.