Russia’s Gazprom says no need to over-react to Austria’s LNG explosion
Moscow — Europe shouldn’t over-react to the shock to natural gas markets caused by an explosion earlier this month in Austria, according to Gazprom. The December 12 incident, which caused same-day prices to spike as much as 46%, showed that EU systems of gas transport, storage and communication can handle disruptions, Gazprom deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev said. Rather than use the incident to criticise reliance on Russian fuel, the 28-nation bloc should use the accident to continue improving reliability, he said. Energy security depends on how many routes of supply you have, rather than what country the energy originates from, he said in an interview in St. Petersburg. Just as Russia’s Olympic athletes will compete under a neutral flag in February in South Korea, so, too, do "gas molecules play under a neutral flag", he said. Politicians across Europe called for diversification of the region’s current reliance on Russian gas. The blast at Austria’s Baumgarten gas hub, which killed o...
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