Russia’s Gazprom has reduced gas flows in Italy, Eni spokesman told Reuters. Gazprom gave no reason for the reduction.
“Eni confirms that Gazprom has announced a limited reduction in gas supply for today, amounting to approximately 15%,” Eni’s spokesman said, adding that the company was constantly monitoring the situation.
On Tuesday, Gazprom announced that it was cutting natural gas flows in Germany via the Nord Stream pipeline by 40% due to necessary repairs to equipment that had been delayed. Therefore, gas supply through Nord Stream would be limited to 100 million cubic meters per day, compared to the projected volume of 167 million cubic meters per day, Gazprom said.
The news of the reduction in gas flows in Germany on Tuesday said that natural gas prices have skyrocketed by 13%. Nord Stream flows rose slightly on Wednesday. But in July, Nord Stream is scheduled to undergo two weeks of scheduled maintenance. During this time, there will be no gas flow through Nord Stream to Germany, Gundesnetzagentur said earlier this week.
Italy receives 40% of its gas imported from Russia, equivalent to 29 billion cubic meters, according to Reuters.
Italy is already working to obtain gas from alternative suppliers such as Algeria, Azerbaijan, the DRC, Angola and Qatar. Eni is also in talks with Egypt to increase LNG imports. Eni has already reached an agreement with EGAS to increase natural gas imports by 3 billion cubic meters per day. The new agreement would increase the capacity to ship even more LNG to Italy, but would probably take up to two years to complete.
Both Germany and Italy told companies last month they could open ruble accounts, allowing them to continue buying gas in Russia without incurring penalties.
Although no reason was given for the gas shutdown in Italy on Wednesday, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Gazprom’s decision to reduce gas flows in Germany was motivated. politically and not because of technical issues as Gazprom said.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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