Natural gas plays a large role in Italy’s energy sector. Though domestic production is low compared to the world's largest-producing countries, natural gas is the main contributor to the
. Unlike other countries in Europe, Italy has no operational nuclear power plants following an exit in 1990 in the wake of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. This has resulted in greater investments in natural gas, especially after high-efficiency gas plants were included in the European green taxonomy.
Domestic production output and leading suppliers
In 2022,
natural gas production in Italy stood at 3.2 billion cubic meters, a decrease of more than 60 percent since 2007. Extraction is largely achieved through offshore rigs, while Basilicata is the greatest
natural gas-producing region on land. The industry is dominated by Eni and Edison, the
leading natural gas firms in Italy, each having sold around eight billion cubic meters of gas in 2022. Eni was founded in 1953 and is among only a handful of European oil and gas majors. It is involved in hydrocarbon production and owns multiple fuel stations across the country. Nevertheless, local production alone has been unable to meet Italy's substantial energy demand, making the country reliant on gas purchases from abroad.
Natural gas trading and impact of Russia-Ukraine war
The majority of the
natural gas supplied to Italy in 2021 originated in Russia and was transported via pipelines through Ukraine. After the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian gas shipments decreased considerably, and Algeria became the largest
natural gas importing country to Italy. The European gas crunch caused an increase in
natural gas prices for household consumers in Italy. In the past decade, average prices fluctuated between 4.4 euro cents and 6.45 euro cents per kilowatt-hour depending on the season, but they hiked up to almost 14 euro cents per kilowatt-hour in 2022. The Italian government relieved the
domestic consumers of natural gas from system charges and caused a decrease in the gas bill for households in the regulated energy market until April 2023.
Natural gas prices for non-household consumers were lower but also rocketed to 11 euro cents per kilowatt-hour in 2022.
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