Gazprom Announces Suspension of Gas Deliveries to Austria

Russian energy giant Gazprom has informed Austria of its decision to suspend gas deliveries starting Saturday, according to a gas flow monitoring platform report on Friday.

This move could potentially mark the end of the last remaining Russian gas supplies to Europe.

The Austrian oil and gas company OMV announced via the European gas hub platform that Gazprom would reduce its natural gas deliveries to zero from 5:00 AM on November 16. The gas supply to OMV through Ukraine was already at risk of being cut off by the end of the year due to an ongoing arbitration case against Gazprom, as OMV warned on Thursday.

Austria remains one of the few European countries still reliant on Russian gas, while much of the continent has significantly reduced imports following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The affected volume amounts to 7,400 megawatt-hours, equivalent to approximately 5 terawatt-hours per month. Gazprom declined to comment on the matter.

The gas transit agreement between Moscow and Kyiv, which facilitates Russian gas exports to Europe via Ukraine, is set to expire at the end of this year. This transit route primarily supplies Austria and Slovakia with Russian gas. Ukraine has repeatedly stated that it will not renew the contract with Gazprom.