Russia's Gazprom suspends gas to Italy after 'problem' in Austria

Russia's Gazprom has suspended gas deliveries to Italy's Eni, blaming a transport problem in Austria, the Italian energy giant said on Saturday.

"Gazprom told us that it was not able to confirm the delivery of the volumes demanded for today, citing the impossibility of gas transport through Austria," Eni said in a statement.

As a result, "Russian gas flows to Eni via the Tarvisio entry point will be nought", it said.

Most of Russian gas delivered to Italy passes via Ukraine through the Trans Austria Gas Pipeline (TAG), to Tarvisio in northern Italy on the border with Austria.

Gazprom later in the day said in a statement that the transportation of Russian gas through Austria had been suspended "due to the refusal of the Austrian operator to confirm the transport nominations".

"The reason is related to the regulatory changes that took place in Austria at the end of September," it added.

"Gazprom is working on solving the problem together with Italian buyers."

Before the crisis in Ukraine, Italy imported 95 per cent of the gas it consumes - about 45 per cent of which came from Russia.

Outgoing Prime Minister Mario Draghi has signed new deals with other gas producers to reduce Italy's reliance on Russia, lowered to 25 per cent as of June, while accelerating a shift towards renewable energies.

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