Russian energy giant Gazprom has said
it will supply only 50% of the 63 million cubic metres of gas
requested by Italy on Friday, Italian fuels giant Eni said.
As a result the amount of gas actually supplied will be in line
with the amount pumped in on Thursday, when Gazprom provided
only 65% of the quantity Eni requested., sources said Friday.
On Thursday Italian Premier Mario Draghi accused Moscow of
"political use of gas, like grain" as he visited Kyiv with
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel
Macron to show support following Russia's invasion of Ukraine
and back Kyiv's bid for EU membership.
Nevertheless, the Italian gas system was holding up well on
Friday, with 195 million cubic metres available, more than the
estimated demand of 155 million.
Around 23 million cubic metres of the excess is set to be
stockpiled with the rest exported.
Indeed, experts said the reason operators are not stockpiling
more gas is not because it is not available, but because the
price is too high and they are waiting for it to come down,
sources said.
The Italian government has been working hard to end the nation's
reliance on Russian gas since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine,
reaching a series of agreements to boost supplies from
elsewhere.
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 Mario Draghi said recently.
Italian energy agency ENEA said Thursday that Italy's reliance
on Russian gas had fallen from 40% last year to 24% in the first
five months of this year, with Algerian gas rising to 31% of the
total.
This trend is continuing, as confirmed by data on the website of
gas infrastructure operator SNAM on Friday.
It said an estimated 64.3 million cubic metres of gas was coming
in to Mazara del Vallo in Sicily on Friday, almost twice the
34.78 million cubic metres reaching Tarvisio in Friuli Venezia
Giulia from Russia.
An additional 28.4 million cubic metres of gas was coming into
Melendugno near Lecce from Azerbaijan.
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