• Natural Gas News

    Austrian OMV Adds to Russian Gas Imports

Summary

The additional volume is needed as gas displaces power and European production dips, according to OMV.

by: William Powell

Posted in:

NGW News Alert, Natural Gas & LNG News, Europe, Corporate, Import/Export, Contracts and tenders, News By Country, Austria

Austrian OMV Adds to Russian Gas Imports

Austrian gas supplier OMV has upped its import contract with Russian monopoly Gazprom by 1bn m³/yr, the two sides said November 5. Earlier this year the two extended the contract's duration by 12 years, so it now ends in 2040.

OMV told NGW that the volume was "approximately 5bn m³/yr," but did not say how much of that was take-or-pay minimum commitment. The new volume going forward would therefore be about 6bn m3/yr.

“Over the past few years, Gazprom has been setting new records for exports to Austria. In the first ten months of 2018 alone, gas supplies to the country have grown by a third compared to the same period of 2017, reaching 8.8bn m³. The signing of a document on additional exports beyond the contractual amounts serves as yet another proof of the high demand for Russian gas on the part of our European consumers,” said Gazprom's CEO Alexei Miller.

OMV CEO Rainer Seele said that Europe's demand for gas will rise "primarily as the result of gas-fired power plants successively replacing coal, coupled with the simultaneous decrease in European production. By increasing gas supplies to Baumgarten in Lower Austria, we are making an additional contribution to security of supply in Austria – as well as to other European countries."

OMV made a point of its support for Nord Stream 2 in its quarterly financial results.