Italy on Wednesday reached its target
of 90% gas stocks early with respect to a deadline of the end of
the autumn, Ecological Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani
said.
"This target has been made possible by the intense work carried
out by the government in these months, thanks to Snam and the
support of GSE and ARERA," he said amid sabotage-caused leaks to
two major pipelines from Russia to Europe which the EU has so
far stopped short of blaming directly on Moscow.
"This result enables us to aim for an even more ambitious
objective, on which we will work in the coming weeks, aimed at
reaching 92-3% of stocks, so as to guarantee greater flexibility
in the event of spikes in winter consumption".
The government must move fast to help Italian households and
businesses hit by a record rise in gas and electricity prices
amid the Ukraine war, League leader Matteo Salvini said
recently.
Unless energy prices fall, said the nationalist leader, gas and
electricity must be rationed.
Salvini said at least 30 billion euros would be needed to
address the energy emergency.
He said Russian sanctions were not stopping the Ukraine war and
in the meantime Italy was "on its knees" amid alleged blackmail
on gas supplies from Moscow.
Premier Mario Draghi said that gas and other energy
sources had reached "unsustainable" costs and reiterated Italy's
demand for a price cap at a national and European level.
Draghi has managed to get the EU to commit to considering an
energy price cap.
The outgoing premier added that "with the new regassification
terminals Italy will be able to be completely independent of
Russian gas from autumn 2024.
"This is a fundamental goal for national security".
Draghi said that unlike other European countries such as
Germany, Russian gas was ever less significant for Italian needs
and plans had been laid for savings "at an increasing
intensity".
The Italian government has been working hard to end the nation's
reliance on Russian gas since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on
February 24, reaching and preparing a series of agreements to
boost supplies from elsewhere.
The proportion of Italy's gas supplied by Moscow has already
fallen from 40% at the start of the conflict to around 25% now,
sources said recently.
Algeria's share has risen to over 30%.
The Italian government has "moved rapidly" to diversify
suppliers by scrambling to set up alternatives with countries
like Algeria, Angola, Congo, Libya, Egypt, Israel and
Mozambique, Premier Draghi said.
Fuels giant Eni recently joined the world's largest Liquefied
Natural Gas (LNG) project in Qatar, and has also announced a
highly significant gas find off Cyprus.
Italy's economy, industry and ecological transition ministries
have been looking at ways to help households and businesses to
cope with spiraling energy costs.
The government has already passed price-curbing measures and has
been asked to use a possible windfall levy on huge power company
profits to do more.
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