Italy Still Needs to Import Gas From Russia

Before the war in Ukraine, Italy and other European countries heavily relied on Russia, as they imported gas from the Russian Federation. However, the war in Ukraine altered the status quo, most likely for a long period of time.

European countries are looking for alternative sources. However, it won’t be easy to replace Russian gas in a short period of time. Italy also continues to buy gas from Russia.

The country would need an additional six months of Russian gas imports to refill its stock up to 90% of capacity to go through next winter without major difficulties according to Roberto Cingolani, Italy’s ecological transition minister. At the moment, Italian stocks are about 40% full, Roberto Cingolani noted.

An instant interruption of Russian gas flows would leave Italian storage at critical levels. The country stocks about 1.5bcm every month and a gas suspension from Russia would leave Italy short of 10-15bcm at the beginning of 2023.

Italy and Gazprom

The situation in Europe is quite complicated, to say the least. Last week, Gazprom stopped supplies to Bulgaria and Poland after they refused to comply with Russian demands. The Russian Federation demanded from unfriendly countries to pay in rubles for its gas.

From the first days of the war in Ukraine, Italy rushed to increase gas imports from other suppliers. The country is trying to become less dependent on Russian gas.

Russian gas typically accounts for 40%, or about 29bcm, of its imports.

The country is also planning to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy and limit heating and air conditioning in public buildings in a bid to reduce gas consumption.

The government of Italy is working hard to improve the situation. In an attempt to fo further help reduce the impact of energy prices on households and businesses’ power and gas bills, the government is strongly pushing for an EU-wide gas price cap in Brussels.

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