Colud help sales of Ukrainian Gas
News / 3 February 2012 | 16:40
Europe confirms Russian gas supplies fall
Supplies of natural gas from Russia to parts of the European Union have fallen as the nation needed more gas itself because of the recent spate of freezing weather, the EU said.
Supplies have been reduced to Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Italy, European Commission spokeswoman Marlene Holzner told reporters in Brussels today, according to Bloomberg. She cited a 30 percent drop to Austria, a 24 percent reduction to Italy and an 8 percent decline to Poland. Holzner didn't elaborate on the decreases for other affected EU nations.
Natural-gas storage facilities across the EU are full and the situation doesn't qualify as a "state of emergency" because the affected countries have been able to use natural gas from elsewhere, Holzner said.
The Gas Coordination Group, which brings together EU and gas-industry representatives, has been alerted to the situation and commission is in contact with Russia about the drop in supplies, Holzner said.
"The contracts that Russia has apparently allow for a certain flexibility in case they also need the gas, and that's the situation that Russia's facing at the moment," she said.