Italy needs 6 months of Russian gas to refill stocks

Rome, May 4 - Neftegaz.RU. Italy would need an additional 6 months of Russian gas imports to refill its stock up to 90% of capacity to go through next winter without major difficulties, said ecological transition minister Roberto Cingolani, Montel analysed.
He said during a parliament hearing:

• An interruption of Russian gas as of November would allow us to better fill storage sites
• It would be important to keep Russian flows until the end of 2022 to face next winter with more serenity

An immediate interruption of Russian gas flows would leave Italian storage at critical levels to meet next winter’s demand without more significant measures in place to contain consumption.
Italy stocks about 1.5 bcm every month, and a gas supply suspension from Russia would leave Italy short of 10-15 bcm at the beginning of next year, Cingolani said.

Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukraine military conflict, Italy has rushed to increase gas imports – both via pipeline and LNG – from other suppliers in a bid to cut its heavy reliance on Russian gas, which typically accounts for 40%, or about 29 bcm, of its imports.

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

In an attempt to further help mitigate the impact of spiralling energy prices on households and businesses power and gas bills, the Italian government is strongly pushing for an EU-wide gas price cap in Brussels.
The Italian proposal is currently being reviewed by the European Commission, the minister said.

Last month, Portugal and Spain agreed with the EC to set a 12-month, €50/MWh limit on gas prices for power generation to curb soaring energy bills.
Cingolani said:

• The idea is to introduce a ceiling on the price of natural gas transactions among operators in all European countries for both physical and financial transactions
• Since Europe is the largest buyer of pipelined gas on the planet it should be able to set a price that is reasonable and wouldn’t discourage operators

Cingolani estimated that a cap on gas prices of about €80/MWh – versus the current market reference price above €100/MWh – would already represent a 25% reduction in gas bills and even a higher reduction in electricity bills.