Italy Capable of Living Through Winter Without Russian Gas

ROME (Sputnik) - Italy is currently not prepared for a sudden halt in gas supplies from Russia, but could survive the coming winter with enough work, Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Italy's energy giant Eni, said.

Speaking at an event organized by la Repubblica in Bologna on Saturday, Descalzi said that if the Russian gas supplies were to stop now, Italy would not be prepared.

"We will start to be prepared in the fall-winter 2022/23," Eni’s CEO said, explaining that all the relevant agreements put together in the past four to five months still need to be wrapped up.

According to Descalzi, gas reserves in Italy are currently 54% full and need to be filled up to 70-80% by October, which could be achieved with the help of deliveries from Algeria.

In the worst case scenario, Italy will need a stronger gas flow from other countries, but, provided that the government continues with its diversification measures, Italy will live through the winter, Descalzi said.

Italian Minister for Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani said on Thursday that Italy is ready to take countermeasures to mitigate the effects of a drop in Russian gas supplies, but needs to see if the situation stabilizes before deciding on the next steps early next week.

On Wednesday, Russian energy giant Gazprom notified Eni that it would reduce gas supplies by 15%. On Thursday, Eni said that it was going to receive only 65% of its gas contract due to problems at Portovaya compressor station.

On Tuesday, Gazprom announced a reduction in Nord Stream gas supplies to 100 million cubic meters per day from the planned 167 million cubic meters due to technical issues at the Portovaya compressor station, where only three gas compressor units were functioning after Germany's Siemens delayed maintenance works. On Wednesday, Gazprom said that it had stopped the operation of another Siemens gas turbine at the Portovaya compressor station, adding that it will be able to deliver no more than 67 million cubic meters of gas per day via the Nord Stream pipeline starting from Thursday.

After the launch of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine the Italian government vowed to eliminate the country's dependence on Russian natural gas imports. Addressing the National Parliament in May, Prime Minister Mario Draghi confirmed his intention to achieve independence from Russian gas supplies in the second half of 2024. According to Descalzi, this dependence can be overcome in 2025.