On its way towards energy independence from Russian gas, the Italian government of Giorgia Meloni has decided to re-exploit the Italian fields. Within a package of economic and energy measures, the Prime Minister announced that they would unblock the concessions for the extraction of natural gas in the Adriatic Sea and to allow new exploration and extraction of gas throughout Italy, a decision that has not only angered environmentalists, but some members of the political parties that support the government majority.
Meloni's plan to increase energy sovereignty is not new, because it follows the path traced by Mario Draghi's previous executive, who already began an operation to diversify hydrocarbon sources to reduce the high dependence on Russian gas, which before of the war accounted for 40% of gas imports in Italy. In fact, the former Minister of Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolani, has stayed at Meloni's service as an adviser in the Energy portfolio.
Right now, Italian gas extractions represent a very residual percentage compared to the gas needed in this country. Italy currently consumes about 75,000 million cubic meters of gas every year, and of these, it extracts about 3,300 from its own territory. The rest matters. And in the Adriatic is where some of the main deposits of Italy are located, but in recent years its extraction has slowed down both due to the natural decline of the deposits, as well as due to the lack of investment and also due to some local and national regulations, particularly one from 2006 that prevented the extraction of gas less than 12 miles from the coast, something that prevented some platforms from arriving already built for use. In other words, while consumption has remained stable, in the last two decades extractions have been reduced.
“I want to believe that, as a paradox, an opportunity for Italy can also emerge from the drama of the energy crisis. Our seas have gas deposits that we have a duty to fully exploit ”, Meloni warned during his inauguration speech. And said and done: in one of its first economic measures, the Government has decided that gas extraction between 9 and 12 miles from the coast can also be allowed, under certain conditions.
The first is that these deposits have an estimated capacity of more than 500 million cubic meters of gas. The second, that it not be done above the 45th parallel –at the height of the city of Ferrara– to avoid damage to the fragile lagoon of Venice. There will only be one exception, one that is next to the mouth of the Po, because it has an estimated capacity of 900 million cubic meters of gas.
And the third, that these new operations are intended for companies that use large amounts of energy and therefore are more exposed to price increases.
Experts believe that with this, Italy will be able to extract an additional 15,000 million cubic meters of gas from national drilling in the next 10 years, that is, an increase of about 1,500 million a year until reaching 5% of consumption.
This is the main criticism of environmentalists, who consider that the benefit is minimal compared to the impact of the new policy. “It is a useless increase in quantity”, considers Andrea Minutolo, scientific manager of Legambiente. “It will take a few years just for the procedures to activate the new wells, so it is likely that we will reach 2030. We are heading towards the path of decarbonization, so it would make more sense to invest in other forms of energy with more potential such as renewables and reduce the need for gas with energy efficiency, renovating buildings”, he points out. The same is the opinion of Luca Zaia, one of the most popular politicians in the League, a party that supports the Meloni Executive. “The results of land and seabed subsidence after drilling in the 1950s were massive and devastating,” he has warned.
