Before End of Gas Transit: Austria Well Prepared
"We have never been so well prepared," said Gas Connect Managing Director Stefan Wagenhofer on Thursday. The gas storage facilities are full, and any shortfall in gas volumes could be replaced via Germany and Italy. Whether and when Ukraine will suspend gas transit remains unclear.
Ukraine Does Not Want to Extend Gas Transit Contract
The transit contract between the Russian gas giant Gazprom and the Ukrainian supplier Naftogaz expires at the end of 2024, and Ukraine has announced that it does not want to extend the contract. This would have significant implications for the gas supply in countries such as Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, which have long relied on Russian deliveries. Most recently, for example, 89 percent of Austria's gas demand came from Russia.
Whether and when exactly the gas flow from Russia could dry up remains unclear for the time being. "Our guess is as good as yours, we don't know more than you do," said Wagenhofer. The gas flows are monitored around the clock. If no more gas were to flow from Russia to Austria in the near future, missing gas volumes could be sourced immediately from Germany or Italy without any conversion time. The corresponding pipeline capacities on the West Austria Gas Pipeline (WAG, coming from Germany) and the Trans Austria Gas Pipeline (TAG, from Italy) are already booked and can be called up if needed.
Austria's gas consumption in the past gas year from October 2023 to September 2024 was around 71 terawatt hours (TWh) in total, with demand per month in winter at about 10 TWh, explained Jürgen Schneider, head of the "Climate and Energy" section at the Ministry of Climate. Technically, 90 TWh of gas could be imported via the WAG per year, about 65 percent of this capacity is already booked. Via the TAG, 96 TWh would be possible, of which 75 percent is already booked.
Confidence in Agreement on German Gas Storage Levy
When asked whether gas from Germany or Italy would not also be associated with higher costs, Wagenhofer referred to the market: "If there is uncertainty, the price typically rises briefly, this applies to all goods, not just for gas. If there is less gas, then the price rises until it is recognized that there is enough supply again." The German gas storage levy made imports from this direction more expensive, "but we are very confident that there will be a political agreement", and the storage levy will be abolished, said the Gas-Connect-Austria CEO. According to information from the newspaper "Die Presse", the German Bundestag is likely to decide on the abolition of the fee tomorrow, Friday.
"We can say that we are well supplied and have enough options," said TAG Managing Director Brigitte Straka-Lang. Wagenhofer compared booking on the pipelines to a pre-booked train ticket: "Companies that transport gas have already secured the transport and have already put money into it".
Gas Consumption on Holidays is Low Anyway
"We will not have a problem on 01.01. if the gas flows from the east stop," said AGGM board member Bernhard Painz. The infrastructure is ready and the gas storage facilities are well filled. In addition, January 1st is a holiday, so the industry is at a standstill anyway and the gas demand is therefore low, "this could also be easily covered from the storage facilities alone," said Wagenhofer. The supply in Tyrol and Vorarlberg is also unproblematic, as the two federal states are already exclusively supplied via the German network.
(APA/Red)
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