© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Italian energy company Eni is seen at a gas station in Rome, Italy September 30, 2018. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi/File Photo
By Federico Maccioni and Francesca Landini
MILAN (Reuters) -Italy’s Eni said it would not receive any of the gas it had requested from Russia’s Gazprom (MCX:) for delivery on Saturday, but the firms said they were working to fix this.
Russian gas supplies through the Tarvisio entry point will be at zero for Oct. 1, Eni, the biggest importer of Russian gas in Italy, said in a statement on its website.
Moscow and several European countries, including Germany, have been at loggerheads over the supply of from Russia since the country’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
The European Union says Moscow is using the flow of gas needed for energy in the region as an economic weapon, something that Russia has consistently denied, blaming instead the impact of Western sanctions for any disruptions in supply.
Gazprom said in a statement on Telegram that the problem was the result of regulatory changes in Austria.
Russia’s state-owned energy giant said gas transit through Austria had been suspended after the country’s grid operator refused to confirm transport nominations, or the amount Gazprom planned to ship.
Austria’s gas grid operator was not immediately available for comment to Reuters on Saturday to respond to Gazprom’s remarks, but the Austria Press Agency cited Austrian regulatory authority E-Control as saying the new rules which came into force on Saturday had been known about for a long time and it expected all market participants to comply with them.
A spokesperson for Eni said Austria continued to receive gas on its border with Slovakia.
A spokesperson for Austria’s OMV said supplies from Russia were not an issue. “The volumes nominated for today’s gas day were significantly higher for OMV today than of late,” he said.
Italy has secured additional gas imports this year from alternative suppliers to make up for a fall in flows from Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine.
Russian gas now accounts for around 10% of Italian imports, down from around 40%, a source close to the matter said, while the share from Algeria and the Nordics has increased.
Elsewhere, Gazprom cut natural gas supplies to Moldova by around 30%, Vadim Ceban, director of gas firm Moldovagaz, said.
On Friday, Moldova’s deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu said Gazprom had warned it about the reduction.
Spinu said on Saturday that technical problems caused the reduction and Moldova would ask Gazprom to increase supplies.
