The explosion in a gas plant in Austria has triggered a state of emergency in Italy.
Following the explosion on Austria's central gas hub Baumgarten, deliveries will be resumed via this distribution station shortly, according to information provided by the operator parent company OMV. The OMV subsidiary Gas Connect Austria will take the line systems back to Italy, Germany and Hungary before midnight again, said the Vienna oil company on Tuesday evening. The police investigation into the exact course of the accident continued. The Italian gas network operator Snam, which is involved in Gas Connect alongside the insurer Allianz, also expected to resume gas deliveries from Russia before midnight.
A huge explosion on an important gas hub in Austria on Tuesday threw up the energy markets in much of Europe. After natural gas deliveries from the Alpine Republic to the south and southeast were interrupted, gas prices soared across the board. The southern neighbor Italy, which is heavily dependent on gas supplies from Austria, has called for a state of emergency in energy supply. All clear for Austria. And even in Germany, nobody has to fear a bottleneck, as the supply here is broader.
The station in Baumgarten, east of Vienna, which has existed since 1959, is one of the most important gas hubs in Central Europe. With an annual capacity of 40 billion cubic meters, it also distributes natural gas from Russia and Norway to northern Italy and southern Germany. On the energy markets, nervousness spread over the explosion: the price of British gas for immediate delivery increased by as much as 45 percent. In Italy, the wholesale price rose by just over 150 percent to 60 euros per megawatt hour.
On the other hand, the rise in gas prices was a source of happiness for investors in the major oil and gas companies such as BP, Shell and Statoil. out. The papers of the companies rose sharply. With a price increase of 1.5 percent, the European sector index is heading for the biggest daily gain in half a year.
IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER BREAK
The delivery interruption to Italy comes just at the time when the country was hit by a onset of winter and heavy snowfall - and thus probably more gas is needed for heating. When natural gas will flow back through the pipelines to the south and the exact extent of the damage are so far unclear, said a spokesman for the operating company GasConnect, in which the Viennese oil company OMV holds a majority stake. According to a first estimate, only a small part of the plant was affected, it was said. The plant had been shut down in a controlled manner and is currently standing still. The fire has since been extinguished.
Italy's gas network operator Snam, which also has a stake in GasConnect in addition to the insurance group Allianz, hopes for a quick return to normality. "On the basis of the available information, the supply could come back today once the initial estimates of the damage are confirmed",
The exact accident is still unclear. The police assume a technical defect. At first there had been an explosion. Then there was a fire that had spread to neighboring buildings. The cloud of smoke could be seen in Vienna, about 30 kilometers away. A total of 22 fire brigades and 250 task forces were deployed. According to official figures, one person was killed and 21 people injured in the accident, one of them seriously.
Source: https://deutsche-wirtschafts-nachrichten.de/2017/12/12/gas-explosion-oesterreich-loest-energie-notstand-italien-aus/
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