Russian Gazprom and Austrian OMW signed a contract to increase the supply of Russian gas by 1 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year, the Russian company announced Monday.
In line with the amendment to the contract, signed by Alexey Miller, Gazprom CEO and Rainer Seele, OMV CEO in Russia’s St. Petersburg, gas deliveries to Austria will increase by 1 bcm per year beyond the contractual amount for the entire contract period.
In 2017, Gazprom set a new record for gas exports to Austria at 9.1 bcm, a rise of 50.3 percent from 2016.
'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,' Miller said.
He added that, '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 8.8 bcm.'
Seele said that by increasing gas supplies to Baumgarten in Lower Austria, OMV is making an additional contribution to the security of supply in Austria as well as to other European countries.
'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,' he argued.
On June 5, the parties agreed to extend the existing contract for Russian gas supplies to Austria until 2040 beyond the contract expiry of 2028.
By Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr