energy
Draghi calls for joint natural gas storage in the EU
A natural gas storage facility in Rehden (Lower Saxony). Photo: Mohssen Assanimoghaddam/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Germany gets 55 percent of the natural gas it imports from Russia, while Italy gets 45 percent. Mario Draghi criticizes this focus and brings up cross-border natural gas storage facilities.
As a consequence of the current Ukraine crisis, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi is calling for transnational storage facilities for natural gas in the European Union. The head of government said this in a statement in Parliament in Rome.
His country will push in Brussels to get better mechanisms for shared storage on the way to be better prepared for future emergencies. “We hope that this crisis will finally lead to a positive response on this issue,” said Draghi.
He reported that Italy got through the winter relatively well compared to other European countries. The gas storage tanks were 90 percent full in October. These were then used intensively so that in February they were already at a level that is normally the case in March. In view of the rising temperatures after the end of winter, Draghi was confident for the near future.
Draghi criticized the focus of Italy’s gas supply on Russia in recent years, saying that the Mediterranean country gets 45 percent of its gas from the Russians. Rome is now trying to get more gas from countries such as Azerbaijan, Algeria, Libya or the USA. In order to secure the energy supply in the short and medium term, Italy is also considering putting coal-fired power plants back into operation.