Austria’s natural-gas supply is safe despite a heavy reliance on Russian imports since Vienna can fall back on other sources and large reserves even if Moscow turns off the taps next month, according to a government-commissioned study published on Friday.

Austria, which was occupied by four Allied powers including the Soviet Union after World War Two, has relied heavily on Moscow for gas imports for decades, only deciding that was a strategic mistake after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The land-locked country has struggled to find alternatives while much of Europe has scrambled to do the same. Partly state-owned oil and gas firm OMV OMVV.VI continues to buy gas sent by pipeline from Russia under a long-term contract. In April, the latest month on record, 81% of imports came from Russia.

The study by the Austrian Energy Agency, an association of members including the energy and environment ministry, cited various factors that would cushion the blow if Russian imports dried up, such as investments in expanding import capacities by pipeline from Germany to the north and Italy to the south, the fact annual consumption has fallen and gas-storage facilities that are almost 82% full.

“Austria can therefore head into the coming winter with confidence in terms of security of gas supply,” it said.

“Compared with the situation at the beginning of June 2022 – when the storage facilities were just over 30% full and Russia reduced gas deliveries – the situation and outlook are now much more positive,” the study of possible scenarios over the next two years said.

Only in an unlikely “extreme scenario” of two consecutive years with limited imports from Germany and Italy and higher outflows into neighbouring countries like Slovakia and Hungary would the country have to dip into its newly-created strategic gas reserve, it added.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Francois Murphy, Editing by Frances Kerry)