The Russian gas company Gazprom has announced that natural gas transit through Austria had been suspended, citing problems due to regulatory changes that happened in Austria. As a consequence, gas supplies to Italy’s oil and gas Eni have also been suspended.
Most of Russian gas delivered to Italy passes via Ukraine through the Trans Austria Gas Pipeline (TAG), to Tarvisio in northern Italy on the border with Austria. Austria’s regulatory authority E-Control said the new rules, which entered into force on 1 October 2022, had been known to all market actors for months. Gazprom has announced it is in contact with its Italian customers to solve the problem.
In 2021, about 96% of Italy’s gas was imported (73 bcm), with about 45% coming from Russia. Italy has recently made efforts to diversify its supply, notably by signing a deal with Algeria for the delivery of 25 bcm of natural gas in 2022.