Preparing for winter, Italy gas storage hits 95% capacity

ROME, Nov 2 (Reuters) – Italy’s gas storage facilities are more than 95% full as the country prepares for a winter when supplies might be constrained by the war in Ukraine, gas grid operator Snam said on Wednesday.

Italy was a major importer of Russian gas but has moved to source supply from countries including Algeria, fill its storage tanks and reduce consumption.

“The result achieved is essential for the coming winter and did not appear likely as recently as July when the 90% target itself seemed quite a challenge,” Snam CEO Stefano Venier said in a statement.

The gas stored is enough to provide around 25-30% of daily demand for the month of January, Snam said in its statement.

Italy had an unusually warm October, meaning that it used

800 million cubic metres of gas less than it did a year earlier, said Matteo Villa, senior research fellow at Italian think thank ISPI.

“At this quarter’s prices, this means savings 910 million euros,” he said.

(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin; writing by Keith Weir, editing by Alvise Armellini and Jason Neely)

Stock Photo via Snam