Brussels, 03/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - In the middle of a cold snap, supplies of Russian gas have been reduced in eight member states. The Commission has alerted the gas coordination group.
Following Austria, Italy, Poland and Slovakia, which announced on Wednesday 1 February that they had received nearly 10% less gas than their usual volumes, four other member states - Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary and Italy - were also facing reductions in their gas supply on Thursday 2 February.
According to the services of Commissioner Günther Oettinger, as of Friday 3 February, eight member states were affected by reduced supplies of Russian gas, due to increased requirements in Russia due to the cold, with considerable drops in Italy (24%) and Austria (30%), on Thursday 2 February. The countries affected have up to now been able to cover the deficit by using stored gas, or additional supply from other sources (for example, the Russian gas giant Gazprom had warned its Italian client sufficiently ahead of time to allow it to make up the deficit out of gas supplies from Algeria). And the 30 days of stores the member states are obliged to keep available since the gas crisis of 2009 were “not at their emergency level”, the Commission stated on Friday 3 February. The European executive has, however, alerted the gas coordination group, which is made up of representatives of the member states, gas companies and gas pipeline operators, in a letter sent out in the middle of the day on Friday.
The Russian gas company Gazprom, for its part, on Friday reiterated its assurances that it would observe all of its gas supply commitments in Europe, explaining the situation by a leap in European demand beyond normal delivery volumes, due to a very cold winter. On Friday, the Commission had not established any link between the drop in supply destined for the EU and the dispute between Russia and Ukraine over gas prices, but it acknowledged at midday that Russia had not provided all information. Ukraine denied that it had diverted any Russian gas meant for Europe on transit through its territory. (EH/transl.fl)