ROME: Russian energy giant Gazprom on Monday cut its gas supplies to Italy by a third, Italian fuels giant Eni said.
The cut came on the same day Gazprom shut down the Nord Stream1 gas pipeline to Europe for 10 days, officially for maintenance, Italian news agency (ANSA) reported.
Germany and France, as well as the European Union (EU), voices fears of a total stop to Russian gas supplies amid the Ukraine war.
Gazprom cut its flow of gas into Italy to 21 million cubic metres, a third down on the average of the last few days.
Gas prices fell markedly in Europe thanks to Canada’s decision to allow the delivery of a turbine that should enable supplies to Germany to return.
In Amsterdam, gas quotations lost as much as 12 per cent, only to rise to a 7 per cent loss, at 163 euros per MegaWattHour.
Italy has been pressing for Europe to introduce a gas price cap and Premier Mario Draghi extracted a pledge from the EU summit to draft a report on the issue to be examined by the end of September.
Oil and gas infrastructure operator Snam said Monday that gas stocks were now up to 6.1 billion cubic metres or 64 per cent of their target.
Ecological Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani said Monday that the government was discussing a campaign to save gas and water, to be launched shortly.
The Italian government has been working hard to end the nation’s reliance on Russian gas since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, reaching and preparing a series of agreements to boost supplies from elsewhere.
The proportion of Italy’s gas supplied by Moscow has already fallen from 40 per cent at the start of the conflict to around 25 per cent now, sources said recently.
Algeria’s share has risen to over 30 per cent.
The Italian government has “moved rapidly” to diversify suppliers by scrambling to set up alternatives with countries like Algeria, Angola, Congo, Libya, Egypt, Israel and Mozambique, Premier Mario Draghi said recently.-Bernama
