Each country is unique but some are a little bit more unique than others. In that sense, Italy really stands apart with its multi-layered history, rich traditions, unparalleled cuisine and a sense of style expressed through architecture and arts. One more feature that distinguishes it from other nations is gas storages.
Long before the Russia/Ukraine war started and the EU resorted to filling trajectories and targets, Italy had implemented quite a distinct mechanism for securing enough gas in store.
While limiting flexibility for players, it allowed the country to go smoothly through the injection cycles and be prepared more than others for extreme situations, like the one that occurred in 2022.
Given the scale of the challenge back then things were not perfect for Italy either, as reflected by the uncovered costs of the last resort injections. But the country did a much better job compared to some of its neighbours.
Ahead of summer 2025, Italy’s storages are about to face another test. With less than 3bcm of commercial stocks expected by the start of April, underground sites would have to be filled with more than 9bcm to reach at least 90%.
And all would be nothing, but just above 25% of the country’s total commercial space has been booked so far for the coming storage year.
Amid the negative seasonal spread, players have understandably showed no interest in the first batch of capacity offered by Stogit since mid-February.
At this time of the year, people are typically busy with reading numbers from the Ministerial decree that gives a start to storage auctions in Italy. This year though, one thing is of more importance for them.
Whether Italy will provide incentives for filling the storages and, if so, in what form – in fact that is the question for those trading at PSV.
In a market which is highly regulated and used to having injections smoothly distributed across the summer, it is not simple to answer whether the government would blink first or have enough patience to wait for the market conditions to start changing.
Source: Yakov Grabar
European Gas Hub is an online platform for sharing analysis and information about European natural gas markets more info
Sign up to receive our weekly newsletter with new European gas market reports, presentations & analysis. Every Tuesday.
By signing up, I agree to our TOS and Privacy Policy.
© 2020 EuropeanGasHub | All Rights Reserved
