Austria refuses to halt delivery of Russian gas. Gas depots are almost empty
Austria will not be able to sustain Russian gas embargo – informed Austrian Economy Minister Margarete Schrambock. Austria media quote that the gas storage facility near Salzburg are almost empty.
Austrian government “ must not send any signals” in the direction of gas embargo if “we know that we will not be able to sustain it” explained the minister. “Neither we nor Germany will be able to sustain it” she added stating that gas embargo “ would do more harm than good” “We can use Austrian tax money to make provisions for the storage facilities that serve Austrian needs. But we cannot use Austrian tax money to buy gas for Germany, France or the Netherlands” – Schrambock said.
Gas depots in Haidach, near Salzburg owned by Gazprom are now almost empty – in one of them the reserve has practically run out, while the level of filling of the other one is 18%. The target is to fill in the depots in 80% – quote, among others, Austrian public radio and tv broadcaster ORF and the “Courier” daily paper.
According to Margarete Schrambock, the EU could use fracturing technology to produce gas.” There are environmentally- friendly methods of obtaining shell gas. We cannot close our minds and look at the technological condition that was 20 years ago” -she said.
The warehouse in Haidach is the second largest gas depot in Central Europe. Although it is located in Austria, we can call it in practice the German depot. The reservoir, which can store even 2.7 billion cubic metres of gas is connected to the German gas system, not to the Austrian one. The Germans cannot fill in the reserves in the depots. The federal government adopted a law, which, as of this summer, defines minimum level of filling in gas depots. However, it refers only to the warehouses on the territory of Germany. (info:euroactiv.pl)
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