While
US politicians are accusing Europe of being dependent on Russian gas, they
forget that “American
liquefied gas is two or three times more expensive than Russian gas. Under such
circumstances, it makes little sense in purely economic terms to replace
Russian gas with American LNG,” Van der Bellen said at a press
conference after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vienna on Tuesday.
Putin noted that Austria is a major transportation hub for
Russian gas being exported to Europe. “Austria
has become one of the key, if not to say, one of the most important units of
Russian gas transportation to Western Europe and plays an important role in
ensuring the energy security of the entire European continent,” Putin
said.
He recalled that Russia has
exported more than 200 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Austria in the
past 50 years. After the meeting, Russia’s Gazprom and Austria’s OMV signed a
gas supply contract until 2040.
Before Putin’s trip to Austria, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian
Kurz also spoke about the importance of Russian gas shipments to his country. “I would like to note
that fruitful cooperation of the two very important companies – OMV and Gazprom
– which seems to me extremely beneficial for both sides,” the
chancellor told TASS news agency in an interview.
OMV and Gazprom are now implementing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline,
which seeks to double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream. The project has
faced opposition from the US, which is seeking to ramp up LNG exports to
Europe.
Reprinted from RT News.