Italy: Eni CEO Warns of Potential Supply Crisis

CEO of Italian energy company Eni, Paolo Scaroni, has said that Italy may face a gas supply crisis if cuts from major supplier Gazprom continue.

Speaking last night on Italian radio station Radio 24, Mr. Scaroni said that the country's supplies were secure until Wednesday of this week but could suffer if imports from Gazprom remained reduced beyond that day.

"We are in a state of emergency and have responded to the emergency by increasing importation from Algeria and Northern Europe through Switzerland, so we will not have any problems until Wednesday (unless a) new wave of cold comes in from Russia. We don't know how Gazprom will behave Thursday and Friday," Italian news site AGI.it reports the CEO as saying.

The CEO said that Eni was preparing for "difficult moments" ahead if the severe weather affecting Russia continues and Gazprom continued to reduce export amounts.

In the worst case scenario, Mr. Scaroni said, Eni would cease supplies to firms where contracts would allow for such a reduction.

Last Tuesday saw a severe reduction in supply to Italy, with supplies to Italy reduced by about 8 per cent, the Interfax news agency reported. Italian pipeline operator Snam Rete Gas also confirmed at that time that supply from Russia had been reduced by 8 million cubic metres of gas. The amount was less than the 105.8 million cubic metres of gas expected.

Italy's Minister of Industry will today discuss contingency plans to deal with any further gas decline in the coming days.