In terms of energy, Italy is reliant on Putin's: Last year, Russia supplied 40% of the gas consumed. Given the poor local supply, it appears that replacing Moscow will be tough, at least in the medium run.
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| [The Tap gas pipeline] |
Russia and Ukraine have had (and will continue to have) enormous ramifications in a variety of fields, most notably energy, considering that Putin's nation is the first supplier of gas and the fifth of oil. From this vantage point, Italy is reliant on Moscow, and with the start of the invasion and the increase of hostility between Russian and European leaders, the question arises: can we do without Russian gas?
Looking at short- to medium-term statistics and prospects, the answer to the issue of whether Italy can survive without Russian gas is no. For a number of reasons. To begin, it should be noted that, according to figures for 2020 and 2021, Italy utilises around 70 billion cubic metres of gas each year.
Italy utilised 71.34 billion cubic metres of gas last year, with around 40% coming from Russia, which reaffirmed its position as Italy's leading exporter. Algeria, Libya, Norway, Holland, and Qatar meet the remaining demand for this fuel. In particular, Algerian gas accounted for about 30 percent of total national imports, followed by Libyan gas (4.3 percent) and North Sea gas (4.3 percent) (2.4 percent ).
It should be highlighted that in 2021, the Tap corridor, which transports Azerbaijani gas to Puglia and supplies roughly 10% of our country's needs, will become more important. Then there's the sea route for liquefied natural gas, which is mostly supplied from Qatar and Nigeria but needs particular infrastructure for regasification.
Finally, there's internal production to consider. Italy now produces little more than 3 billion cubic metres of gas per year, with the government intending to increase that to 5 billion. As a result, replacing Russia in the short to medium term will be extremely challenging. LNG, domestic gas production, and, most importantly, a drive toward renewables might boost the energy balance and help Italians break free from Moscow.