Baumgarten, where the explosion occurred, is a key distribution and reception hub for gas exports and imports, including from Russia, Europe’s biggest gas supplier. Photograph: Christian Bruna/EPAThe hub’s operator, Gas Connect, said Austria’s gas supply was secured “for the foreseeable future” but conceded that deliveries to the country’s southern and south-eastern borders would be affected until further notice. Carlo Calenda, the Italian industry minister, said the country must grapple with a serious energy supply problem and underlined the need to develop the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). The volume of gas passing westwards through Ukraine, the main transit country for Russian gas, was reduced by a third as a result of the blast. Slovakia’s main gas transit route to Austria was suspended after the fire, the Slovakian pipeline operator Eustream said.

Source: The Guardian December 12, 2017 13:14 UTC