Austrian energy firm OMV has booked additional gas pipeline capacity from October 1 to supply Austria from Germany and Italy.
The firm said in a statement it secured 40 TWh of gas capacity for the gas year which starts on October 1, 2022 and ends September 30, 2023.
OMV said this corresponds to almost half of Austria’s annual demand and covers the company’s delivery obligations in Austria.
The transfer points for the natural gas are the nodes Oberkappel in Upper Austria for a pipeline from Germany and Arnoldstein in Carinthia for a pipeline from Italy.
Earlier this week, OMV said that Russia’s Gazprom had reduced pipeline gas supplies to Austria after the maintenance work of Nord Stream 1 began. The firm said it was receiving about 70 percent less natural gas than it ordered.
“This is a decisive milestone in diversifying natural gas supply. Because it will enable us to bring the gas to Austria – which we produce ourselves in Norway, as well as LNG volumes we have purchased – when needed and ensure reliable supply for our customers,” Alfred Stern, CEO of OMV, said in the statement.
OMV produces almost 30 TWh of gas in Norway. In addition, the firm has capacity at the Dutch Gate LNG terminal in Rotterdam of just over 30 TWh.
Back in 2017, OMV signed a five-year deal with Qatargas to buy about 1.1 million tons of LNG starting in 2019 and for delivery to Gate.
Besides booking additional pipeline capacity, OMV said it has also made progress with natural gas storage.
“Since we started storing natural gas very early in March and have continued to do so consistently over the past few months, OMV’s own storage facilities are already almost 80 percent full,” Stern said.