OMV terminates Gazprom contract: a step towards energy independence!

OMV terminates Gazprom contract: a step towards energy independence!

Austria's energy industry is facing a dramatic upheaval: The state -owned group OMV has terminated the long -term gas supply contract with the Russian giant Gazprom, which was to run by 2040 due to serious breaches of contract. In view of the one -sided stop of deliveries by Gazprom in November, this decision was made in November, which could result in considerable financial consequences. A arbitration court recently decided that Gazprom talented 230 million euros had to pay compensation to the OMV, which, according to Salzburg's civil law professor Andreas Kletecka, may be difficult to enforce. "It could be that it will be difficult to enforce this," explains Kletecka in the Ö1-afternoon journal, "but 230 million euros are not a major amount in the context of the entire contract."

delivery bottleneck and alternative energy sources

Although the OMV emphasizes that the energy supply is secured for Austrian customers, the consequences of the Gazprom exit can be felt. The OMV boss Alfred Stern assures that the company can fall back on numerous alternative gas sources, including gas from Norway and LPG from external producers. In addition, around 85 percent of the domestic gas stores are currently filled. This is regarded as an important security measure, since the OMV moved from Gazprom about five Terawatt hours (TWH) per month before the delivery stop, while Austria's entire gas consumption was around 75 TWh in 2023. However, if the transit contracts between Russia and Ukraine expire at the end of the year, this could also lead to a bottleneck, since Austria continues to rely on Russian gas, which is delivered via Ukraine, such as Tageschau.de reported.

Chancellor Karl Nehammer said that the step to terminate the contract with Gazprom was a necessary way into energy independence. "Russia wanted to use energy against us as a weapon - that didn't work," emphasized Nehammer and emphasized that the OMV can finally end the decades of dependency on Russian energy due to this step. Politics will look at the decline in the Russian energy supply, which in the past was considered a stability factor.

The OMV is now faced with the challenge of mastering the demolition of the decades of partnership with Gazprom, while the company must also maintain the supply requirements of the domestic population. This phrase could significantly influence the entire Austrian energy market, since the departure of Russian gas represents a fundamental change of course, as is the DetailsOrtÖsterreich, ÖsterreichQuellen

• www.heute.at
• www.tagesschau.de