Eurasia Press & News
Italy is considering moving to a state of alert to ration gas consumption and increase gas storage following Gazprom’s gas supply cut, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported.
According to the Italian emergency protocol, the state of “alert” – which is the second level on a scale of three – may eventually result in the curb of supplies to specific industries. To weigh the decision on the state of alert, the Security Committee will meet at the ministry of ecological transition on Tuesday.
Italy is currently in a “early warning” state after Gazprom announced it would supply 50% less gas on Friday, the fifth successive daily cut. Unless flows rise again, rationing consumption may prove necessary.
Concern about the collapse of Russian gas supplies remains, even if Italy secured extra gas supplies in the framework of an import diversification strategy.
In the last four months, Rome managed to secure future supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Algeria, Angola, the Republic of Congo, and Israel. A contribution will also come from regasification vessels to process the LNG.
On Sunday, Eni signed an agreement to enter the world’s largest LNG project in Qatar.
Meanwhile, the Italian energy giant announced they will file any request from Gazprom as “sensitive information” and will not publish anything unless they receive new information.
