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Explosion in Baumgarten (Austria) gas transit plant, russian gas delivery halted for Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia. Italy declares energy crisis. Gas price in Europe jumps ~20%. Crude oil futures rise too.
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMyiQtm56co (far away video)
* http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/12/least-one-killed-18-injured-explosion-austrian-gas-plant/
* https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/891284/Austria-gas-plant-blast-Europe-energy-crisis-fuel-shortages-Italy-state-emergency
* https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-12/u-k-gas-surges-after-explosion-in-austria-tightens-supply
UPDATE from: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42321217
Police have cordoned off the area. Some victims suffering burns have been airlifted out by helicopter, Austrian ORF news reports.
One unconfirmed report spoke of 60 hurt.
"I heard a huge explosion and thought at first it was a plane crash," photographer Thomas Hulik, who lives in a nearby village in Slovakia, told AFP news agency. "Then I saw an immense ball of flame."
Gas Connect said the incident should have no effect on gas deliveries to Austria but those to Italy and Croatia might be reduced.
Meanwhile, Russia's Gazprom Export said it was working to redirect gas flows.
It said it was "doing everything possible to secure uninterrupted gas supplies" to customers in the region.
Spot prices rose sharply across Europe after the incident.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 13 2017, @04:50AM (1 child)
There were two minority language regions in Georgia. Neither is Russian, either by language or ethnicity. Russia tore these regions off to create Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia didn't do this out of benevolence. Georgia had dared to consider closer ties with the EU, possibly including membership. Russia is simply not OK with the EU expanding into an area that Russia feels is rightly within a Russian sphere of influence.
The same issue, closer ties with the EU, is largely behind Russia's attack on the Ukraine.
South Ossetia is particularly troubling for two reasons:
First, it rips a chunk right out of the middle of Georgia. This is horrible from a security perspective, and of course taking the long way around is costly.
Second, there is some serious hypocrisy on display. You see, there is also a North Ossetia. It is of similar size, adjacent to South Ossetia, on the other side of a mountain ridge. North Ossetia is part of Russia. Note that Russia isn't giving that up. The two sides are both Ossetian, speaking the same language. If Russia actually cared about Ossetians, then the Ossetians would get unified. Maybe the Ossetians would even join the EU.
Basically, Russia insists on running the affairs of its neighbors. Joining the EU is not OK.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday December 13 2017, @02:57PM
Kaliningrad being proof that horrible and costly doesn't need to mean incendiary. The baltic states get buzzed by Russian jets (without transponders) going between Kaliningrad and Mother Russia all the time. That's fine - it's just unpredictable scrambling drill, like random drug testing for athletes - it keeps us on our toes. Never a real threat though. I imagine /Top Gun/ like scenes play out frequently...
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