Austria stops importing and refining oil from Russia

Austria stopped importing and refining oil from Russia in March, the Austrian oil and gas company OMV, an official with OMV told TASS on Thursday.

According to the representative of the Austrian company, at OMV's refineries in Austrian town of Schwechat and German town of Burghausen the share of Russian crude oil has always been quite small. "In March, we replaced these volumes with other crude oil from the market. Currently, we do not refine Russian oil," a representative of the Austrian company said in response to a relevant question.

According to Austria Press Agency, Kazakhstan has been the most important supplier of oil for Austria for many years. It is followed by Libya and Iraq. These three countries accounted for 80% of Austria's oil imports. According to the Austrian statistical office, in 2021, Russian imports accounted only for 7.8% of the 596,000 tonnes of oil supplied to Austria.

Meanwhile, Austria's dependence on Russian gas remains high and accounts for 80% of imports of this type of fuel. Therefore, the Austrian authorities rule out the possibility of a gas embargo from Russia to Austria.