(Recasts final paragraph, adds Eni and source comments)
ROME -(Dow Jones)- The Italian government said it signed an emergency decree aimed at boosting natural gas supplies from beyond Russia after getting Tuesday only about 15% of its request from the country, as it assures Italy isn't facing a problem the drop.
OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) is supplying Italy via a pipeline in northern Italy about 7 million cubic meters of gas after a "strong fall" registered at 0300 GMT Tuesday, said Eni SpA (E) spokesman Gianni Di Giovanni.
Italy had requested 45 million cubic meters of gas Tuesday from Gazprom rather than the usual 60 million because of Tuesday's public holiday in the country, said a person familiar with the matter. Gazprom informed Italy it would guarantee Tuesday 7 million cubic meters, the person said.
Italy's usual daily gas imports are almost 300 million cubic meters.
In a Tuesday statement, Italian Industry Minister Claudio Scajola said the decree was aimed at increasing gas supplies from countries including Libya, Algeria, Norway and the U.K.
A meeting of a special body - which includes officials from the ministry, the energy regulator and from the natural gas and power grid companies - was called to monitor the gas situation, the ministry said, without providing details.
While admitting there were problems in importing gas from Russia, Scajola sought to reassure consumers by saying that Italy's gas storage capacity was high and that the start of the winter had been mild.
In the event Gazprom ceases all supplies and no extra imports are made available, Italy's storage is sufficient for "several weeks," the source said.
Russian state-run energy company Gazprom slashed deliveries of gas bound for Europe by nearly 60%, its Ukrainian counterpart, Naftogaz, said Tuesday, as a six-day standoff between the two countries worsened over a pricing dispute.
Algeria is the biggest exporter of gas to Italy, closely followed by Russia. Italy is also linked to an underwater pipeline, dubbed Greenstream, that has an annual capacity of 8 billion cubic meters of Libyan gas, or about 10% of Italy's annual needs.
Scajola also said that a new offshore regassification terminal near the northeastern town of Rovigo, which will supply gas coming mainly from Qatar, would start operating in a few weeks' time. Edison SpA (EDN.MI) will own the vast majority of Rovigo's gas capacity.
Italy is highly dependent on gas as more than half of its power plants run on the fossil fuel to generate electricity.
Other temporary measures that Italy's government can introduce to reduce gas needs is to order power generators to turn on their older and more polluting facilities that burn fuel oil, or switch those than can from gas. A government source said there are no plans for this to happen.
Ministry Web site: http://www.sviluppoeconomico.gov.it
-By Luca Di Leo and Liam Moloney, Dow Jones Newswires; +39 06 697 66921; luca.dileo@dowjones.com
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Publié le 06 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones