Russian gas supplies to Italy were up 36.5% year on year in November, Gazprom said. The rise was happening amid a strong increase in thermoelectric generation in the country over the same period, data from Italy's gas grid operator suggest.
Gazprom did not specify the total amount of gas exported to Italy over the month, but noted that “based on the results of 11 months of 2016, Italy is the second largest importer of Russian natural gas among all foreign countries.”
In 2015, Gazprom’s exports to Italy totalled 24.4 billion cubic meters of gas, increasing by 12.6 per cent versus 2014.
The November export data is coherent with the sharp rise in gas demand and notably gas-for-power demand observed during November in Italy.
GTPj had previously reported that in the first 27 days of November 2016, natural gas demand was some 14.7% higher year on year with a total some 6.54 billion cubic meters were consumed in Italy, against around 5.7 Bcm in the same period in 2015.
That was mostly on the back of natural gas demand from power plants reaching 2.11 Bcm in the same period, some 27.9% higher year on year, according to data from Snam Rete Gas.
The Gazprom statement came after a working meeting between the CEO of Gazprom, Alexei Miller, and the CEO of Italy's Eni, Claudio Descalzi, during which the "parties addressed bilateral cooperation in the gas sector, focusing in particular on Russian gas supplies." Moreover, they “scrutinized possible infrastructure solutions for supplying Russian gas to Europe, particularly Italy, via a southern route” Gazprom said.