Austrian OMV: We Will Not Stop Russian Gas Imports

Spain also annually increases imports of liquefied natural gas from Russia.

Austria will continue to import natural gas from Russia under long-term contracts, despite Western sanctions. This was stated by Alfred Stern, CEO of Austrian OMV group, in an interview with Financial Times newspaper. “As long as Gazprom continues to deliver, we will continue to receive all the volumes of gas stipulated by the contracts,” said Stern, according to whom “OMV can purchase gas from any source and supplier, if it is legally acceptable.”

According to the Financial Times, Russia will be able to block the transit of its gas through Ukraine by the end of 2024, when the contract between Gazprom and the Kyiv government expires.

Neither does Spain want to reduce the amount of environmentally friendly fuel imported from Russia. According to data published by the Spanish energy company Enagas, “in June 2023, Russia again became the largest supplier of gas to Spain.”

In the first month of summer, Spain imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia in the amount equivalent to 7,673 gigawatt-hours, which is 26.8% of the fuel imported by the Kingdom of Spain. Occupying the second and third spots after Russia in the list of exporters are Algeria with 21% of Spanish imports and the USA with 18.5% of the total volume.

In the first half of 2023, Spain imported LNG from Russia for the equivalent of 41,145 gigawatt-hours of energy, which is almost double compared to the same period in 2022, when Russian gas imports to Spain amounted to the equivalent of 22,948 gigawatt-hours. In 2022, the volume of Russian LNG imported by Spain increased as well – by 45% compared to the results of 2021. The Russian supplies to Spain are part of a maxi-long-term contract between Russia’s Novatek group and Spain’s Naturgy, which allows the country to buy energy well below current market prices.