Italy Requires Increased LNG Import Capacity: Eni

Italy needs to significantly increase LNG import capacity according to the Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi yesterday. He said ideally Italy requires four new LNG terminals.

• Italy currently has three terminals with a combined capacity of around 17bcm with another two FSRU planned to increase the capacity to 27bcm.
• "We have moved from Russian gas coming from pipelines to gas coming on ships. We currently don't have enough LNG terminals... we would need four additional terminals," Descalzi said. "Next year, I can expect Russian gas be around 6-7 per cent... if it will be there."
• Italy has increased gas supplies from Algeria, Egypt and the Middle East while Russian flows have fallen from around 38% of total consumption to around 10%.
• The change in supplies highlights the need to strengthen energy infrastructure in the south, eliminate bottlenecks in the gas grid and enlarge its storage system, he said. Gas grid operator Snam recently announced plans to invest more than €3bn to boost the gas network and to add new storage sites.