Eni believes Italy can survive the winter without Russian gas

Gas supply in Italy now exceeds demand, Claudio Descalzi, chief executive officer of the Italian energy company Eni, said. He noted that the country now needs about 30 million cubic meters of Russian gas per day. At the same time, Mr. Descalzi believes that Italy could “survive the winter” if gas supplies from the Russian Federation are stopped.

“If they cut back now, we wouldn’t be ready. By the autumn-winter of 2022-2023, we would have prepared. We need to complete all the agreements that we have concluded over the past four to five months,” said Mr. Deskalciv (quoted by Adnkronos). He suggested that a state of high alert and some restrictions could be introduced in the country.

According to the head of Eni, stocks in storage facilities are 54% full. By October, it is necessary to increase the figure to 70-80% in order to cope with peak loads.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi in mid-June accused Russia of using gas for political purposes. This is how he reacted to the reduction in gas supplies via Nord Stream. Gazprom explained this by difficulties with equipment maintenance due to sanctions from Canada.