Reuters: OMV sees slack European gas market for years

Austrian energy group OMV expects scant growth in Europe's gas market for the rest of the decade as sluggish economies cap demand, the head of its gas business said.

"We have a situation now in which demand is stagnating at a low level and no significant growth is seen for the future in Europe, at least in the years ahead," Hans-Peter Floren told a Handelsblatt energy conference on Friday.

Demand was set to remain relatively flat until 2020, he said. Demand was growing only in Turkey while slackening in the rest of the continent given weak economies. The result was overcapacity and great uncertainty for suppliers on how the sector would develop, he added.

Many suppliers had locked in large supply contracts with Russia's Gazprom at relatively high prices on expectations of growing demand and now need to try to renegotiate the deals given sinking gas prices.
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