Russia's Gazprom reduces gas supply to Austria's OMV by 70%: Report

Russia's energy giant Gazprom has cut the supply of gas to Austria's oil and gas company, OMV. Gazprom has reportedly reduced the export of gas to OMV after the maintenance work of Nord Stream 1 began on July 11.

OMV spokesperson Andreas Rinofner said that the company received around 70% less than it had claimed, Kurier reported citing APA. 

As per the news report, Gazprom has exported around half of the ordered amount of gas since mid-June. The OMV spokesperson Andreas Rinofner said that the ability to store gas in storage tanks despite the reduction of gas supply relies on daily use and additional purchase in the market. The supply of gas has been cut as a major gas pipeline from Russia to western Europe shut down for annual maintenance work on Monday, 11 July, according to AP.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline operates under the Baltic Sea and supplies gas from Russia to Germany and other countries. The gas pipeline will not operate until July 21 for maintenance work which includes "testing of mechanical elements and automation systems." 

Gazprom announces reduction in gas supply to Italy: ENI

Similarly, Italian energy company ENI has said that Russia's Gazprom has announced that it was reducing the supply of gas by around a third in comparison to the average in recent days. ENI in a statement said that Gazprom has said that it will supply 21 million cubic meters of gas per day while the average of gas supplied in the past few days was about 32 million cubic meters per day. 

"Gazprom announced that today it will supply to Eni volumes of gas for approximately 21 million cubic meters/day, while the average for the last few days was of about 32 million cubic meters/day," ENI said in a statement. 

Habeck suspects Russia might not resume gas supply after maintenance work 

Meanwhile, German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck has said he suspects that Russia might not resume gas supply through the pipeline after maintenance work citing "some little technical detail," according to AP. Germany and other EU nations have been making efforts to store gas before winter and reduce their reliance on Russian energy. The head of Germany’s network regulator, Bundesnetzagentur, Klaus Mueller said that they were receiving "varied signals" from Russia and "no one can say exactly" about the resumption of gas. His statement comes after Gazprom in June reduced the supply of gas through Nord Stream 1 by 60% citing 'technical problems.' 

Inputs from AP

Image: AP