The Russian state gas group Gazprom will again supply natural gas to Italy via Austria. On Saturday, gas deliveries to Italy via an Austrian pipeline were halted due to changes in Austrian regulations.
Gazprom says it has found a solution with Italian customers so that gas can be resupplied.
The Russian gas enters Italy through the town of Tarvisio, which lies on the border with Austria. However, the Austrian gas authority refused to let gas through because of changes in regulations. As a result, Gazprom could not sign contracts for gas transport through Austria to Italy. But Gazprom now states that Austria is again ready to let Russian gas through.
The Italian oil and gas group Eni confirmed that gas was flowing again from Austria, and the Austrian regulator also reported that a solution had been found.
Italy is reducing its dependence on Russian gas by importing more from, for example, Algeria and accelerating the work on renewable energy sources. Before the war in Ukraine began, Russia accounted for about 45 percent of Italy’s gas consumption. In June, this had fallen to 25 percent. Sources tell Reuters news agency that Italy is now dependent on Russia for only 10 percent of its gas.
The European gas price on the leading gas exchange in Amsterdam was slightly lower on Wednesday morning. The price for a megawatt hour of gas fell by 0.6 percent to about 161 euros. The price also fell on Monday and Tuesday, easing concerns about winter gas shortages and the expectation of mild weather in Western Europe.
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