Italy will need two more years to completely phase out Russian gas – Kommersant

It will take at least another two years for Italy to completely phase out Russian gas, Claudio Descalzi, head of the Italian energy company Eni, said. According to him, the process is hampered due to the fact that in the last eight years the domestic production of the energy carrier has not been stimulated.

“Investing over time, respecting others, taking risks with those who need it, and thus gaining trust – that is what has enabled us for this diversification, for this partial replacement of Russian gas, which will be completed in two years,”— said Mr. Descalzi. So he commented on Italy’s partnership with the countries of North Africa on the issue of gas supplies, his words are quoted by Quotidiano Nazionale.

According to him, while Italy has been able to replace 30 billion cubic meters. m of Russian gas from almost 40 billion cubic meters. “It’s not so easy, because in the last eight years, domestic production has not been stimulated, we have lost the gas that we produced in Italy, and they did not contribute to investments in the gas sector,” said Claudio Descalzi.

Mr. Descalzi added that the rapid replacement of large volumes of gas was possible due to Italy’s historical ties with Egypt, Angola, Algeria, the Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Libya. “We took certain risks, but at the moment when the need arose, we managed to quickly increase exports,” he added.

Italy imports up to 90% of gas. Before the entry of troops into Ukraine, Russia was the largest supplier with a 40% share. After February 24, 2022, the Italian government announced its intention to completely abandon Russian supplies by 2025. At the end of 2022, Algeria became the largest gas supplier to Italy. In April 2023, Italian Minister for the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto-Fratin declaredthat the country has overcome dependence on Russian gas thanks to the growth of imports from the East through the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline and supplies from Algeria and Libya.

More details – in the publication “Kommersant” “Italy replaces Russian gas”.

Olesya Pavlenko