50 years of reliable supplies of Russian gas to Austria
Fifty years ago, on June 1, 1968, the Soviet company Soyuznefteexport and Österreichische Mineralölverwaltung (ÖMV) signed an agreement for supplying natural gas from the USSR to Austria. In a mere three months, gas from Western Siberia reached the Baumgarten station.
The Republic of Austria became the first country in Western Europe to sign a gas contract with the Soviet Union. The initial amount of annual gas supplies – 142 million cubic meters – grew more than 64-fold in 50 years. Today, Austria is a major buyer of Russian gas. In 2017, exports reached a record 9.1 billion cubic meters, with over 218 billion cubic meters delivered to Austria since 1968.
“The strategic partnership of Gazprom and OMV is built on a robust foundation of the 50-year cooperation between our countries in the gas sector. We continue to work towards strengthening and advancing this relationship while meeting Europe’s growing demand for natural gas. We plan to reach a new level of strategic cooperation in the near future,” said Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee.
“In the past 50 years we have received reliable gas supplies from Russia and have been able to provide our industrial and household customers with high quality natural gas without interruption. This is a good base for expanding the partnership with Gazprom long term,” said Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Executive Board of OMV.
To mark the 50-year anniversary, Gazprom and OMV supported the “Old Masters from the Hermitage” exhibition in Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum, where the world´s best artworks will be presented. In autumn the exhibition will move to the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
Background information:
In 2017, Gazprom set a new record for gas exports to Austria at 9.1 billion cubic meters, a rise of 50.3 per cent (3 billion cubic meters) from 2016 (6.1 billion cubic meters) and 33.8 per cent (2.3 billion cubic meters) from 2005, when the previous record had been reached (6.8 billion cubic meters).
OMV AG is Gazprom’s main partner in Austria. The companies cooperate in gas production, transportation and supplies.
PJS Gazprom is a global energy company focused on geological exploration, production, transportation, storage, processing and sales of gas, gas condensate and oil, sales of gas as a vehicle fuel, as well as generation and marketing of heat and electric power. Gazprom is a reliable supplier of gas to Russian and foreign consumers. The Company owns the world’s largest gas transmission system with a total length of 172 thousand kilometers. Gazprom holds the world’s largest natural gas reserves. The Company’s share in the global and Russian gas reserves amounts to 17 and 72 per cent respectively. Gazprom accounts for 12 and 68 per cent of the global and national gas output correspondingly.
OMV Aktiengesellschaft
OMV is producing and marketing oil and gas, innovative energy and high-end petrochemical solutions – in a responsible way. With Group sales of EUR 20 bn and a workforce of around 20,700 employees in 2017, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In Upstream, OMV has a strong base in Romania and Austria and a balanced international portfolio, with the North Sea, the Middle East & Africa and Russia as further core regions. 2017 daily production stood at approximately 348,000 boe/d. In Downstream, OMV operates three refineries with a total annual processing capacity of 17.8 mn tonnes and more than 2,000 filling stations in ten countries as of year-end 2017. OMV operates a gas pipeline network in Austria and gas storage facilities in Austria and Germany. In 2017, gas sales volumes amounted to 113 TWh.