Russia suspends gas flows to Italy after ‘regulation change’ in Austria

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Russia’s state-owned Gazprom cut gas supplies to Italy last weekend, citing transport problems in Austria, according to Italy’s largest energy company Eni.

The suspension of gas supplies was the result of a regulatory change that took place in Austria at the end of September, Gazprom said in a Telegram statement, adding that it was working with Italian buyers to resolve the issue.

“Gazprom has informed that it is unable to confirm the amount of gas requested today and stated that it is not possible to supply the gas through Austria,” Eni said in the notice. website October 1st.

“Therefore, today’s gas supply to Russia’s Eni through the Tarvisio entry point will be zero,” the energy giant added. “Eni will provide an update in case supplies return.”

As of October 3, Eni has not updated its notice to inform customers if gas supplies have been restored.

Gazprom later confirmed that gas shipments through Austria had been interrupted because grid operators refused to nominate shipments or confirm volumes to be shipped.

Most of the gas from Russia to Italy, which accounted for about 40% of last year’s imports, was routed through Ukraine via the Trans-Austrian Gas Pipeline (TAG) to Tarvisio, a northern Italian commune that borders Austria. You can

new rule

An Eni spokeswoman said Austria appeared to be receiving gas from Gazprom without issue.

and series of tweetsAustrian regulator E-Control detailed that the new rules, which came into force in late September, “have been known to all market players for several months”.

It added that it expects “all to take and comply with the necessary measures to fulfill their obligations.”

The issue was related to “contract details” related to the transportation of gas to Italy, E-Control noted on Twitter, adding that this is currently “not impacting” Austrian consumers.

An Eni spokeswoman said the energy company is currently working with Gazprom to assess whether it can resume flows to Italy.

Italy, a country no stranger to economic crises, stepped up efforts in recent months to secure additional gas from alternative suppliers after Russia launched an attack on Ukraine in February. The Southern European country has been heavily dependent on Russian energy for many years.

Last month, Italy secured additional gas supplies from Algeria, increasing total supplies by nearly 20%. This means that Algeria will become Italy’s largest supplier, providing about 35% of its imports. Meanwhile, Russia’s share has dropped significantly, reaching about 20% as of June, Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi said in September.

The Italian gas cutoff comes days after an underwater explosion damaged the Gazprom-led Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines under the Baltic Sea.

President Joe Biden on Friday called the incident a deliberate “sabotage” and told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the United States and its allies would not be “threatened” by his words or threats. rice field.

“This is a deliberate act of sabotage and Russia is now spouting disinformation and lies,” Biden told reporters at the White House, urging the United States and its allies to investigate the matter and come to a conclusion. said to put out. The bottom of what exactly happened.

Reuters contributed to this report.

From NTD news.

Lorenz Duchamp

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