The Impact of Halting Gazprom Gas Supplies to Austria on European Gas Markets and Imports of US LNG

With three charts, a map, and a table

Although Austria is landlocked, it is clear now that it can shift its dependence from Russian piped gas to imported US LNG via Germany. But the risk is high: In case of a cold winter, competition among European countries for gas supplies would force some European countries to depend more on Russian gas, including LNG. Regardless, the cost of gas in Austria will increase, probably permanently.

Even if Russian natural gas flow via Ukraine stops completely, Europe will continue to import Russian gas via Turkstream pipeline and in the form of LNG. It remains to be seen if President Trump will ban payments to Gazprom’s bank. If it happens, the impact on Europe will be severe.