OMV and Gazprom hope to work together more closely on the Central European Gas Hub at Baumgarten, Austria, a wholly owned subsidiary of OMV Gas International. As a result, Gazprom will take a stake in the hub.
According to OMV, the Baumgarten gas hub is already one of the three most important in continental Europe, handling 7.7 billion cubic meters of gas in 2006 and 1.3 billion cubic meters per month in 2007. The companies intend to increase this volume further in future.
Our intention is jointly to develop this gas hub into the most important in continental Europe. The agreement signed today shows again that the development strategy of Gazprom corresponds to the dynamic development of the energy sector in the European Union, said Alexey Miller, chairman of Gazprom’s management committee.
The agreement also covers joint gas storage projects that will further boost the position of the Central European Gas Hub. OMV and Gazprom will cooperate in relation to a planned OMV storage facility close to the gas hub in Baumgarten and are also considering joint storage projects in neighboring countries.
Gazprom and OMV’s collaboration dates back as far as 1968, when OMV became the first western European company to establish a gas supply agreement with the former Soviet Union. The companies further strengthened this partnership in September 2006, when they extended their gas supply agreements to 2027.
