Overview

Austria’s location has made it an important centre for gas in Europe. It transports approximately 80% of the gas it imports to neighbouring countries. The majority of gas passing through Austria originates from Russia and is delivered to Italy.

The Central European Gas Hub in Baumgarten is a key European hub and transfers gas from Russia to Europe via the Austrian pipeline system.

Although a relatively small consumer itself, gas is of increasing significance to Austria’s energy supply, accounting for 22.5 % of Austria’s primary energy consumption in 2012, according to IEA data.

The country is highly dependent on external suppliers and imports most of its gas from Russia (51%), Norway (10%) and Germany (14%), while its national reserves cover approximately 16% of demand.

The country consumed an estimated 9 bcm of gas in 2012, and has a domestic transmission and distribution pipeline network of approximately 38,000 km. It has a total working storage capacity of 7.5 bcm, spread over seven facilities, as a result of its high dependence on imports. These facilities are depleted gas fields. Tallesbrunn, Schönkirchen and Thann are operated by OMV Gas Storage; Puchkirchen, Haidach, Aigelsbrunn and 7 Fields are operated by RAG.

As a result of its high storage and working capacity in relation to its gas demand, Austria was able to make up for lost European volumes during the disruption to Russian gas supplies in January 2009.

Page updated: 21/07/2014