Gas Bills Rising, But Italian Minister Reassures Of Reserves At 95%

Unstable gas prices in Italy will lead to higher bills, but there will be no supply problems in winter.

The gas price at the Amsterdam trading hub continues to fluctuate: on September 27, it returned close to 40 euros, but just a few days earlier it approached its highest level in 5 months. Price volatility was influenced by factors such as strikes in Australia, reduced Norwegian supplies due to infrastructure maintenance, and problems in the United States, as well as threats of possible unforeseen events related to the international situation.

However, there are no problems with stocks, at least not in Italy. Italian Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto-Fratin said, “We are in a position where gas storage facilities are more than 95% full.”

“There is confidence in the sufficiency of stock, but no one can guarantee gas prices,” he explained to the Italian agency ANSA. “We saw how strikes developed in Australia and the need for Norway to carry out maintenance of power plants. There is no one in the world who can say anything with certainty about the price of methane. But we can keep in mind that there is a lot of gas in the world.”

Meanwhile, in the last months of 2023, Italians’ electric and gas bills will rise. The President of Nomisma energia, Davide Tabarelli, announced that the price of electricity is approaching 27 eurocents per kWh (+12%, but in any case less than half of the same period in 2022), and the rise for gas will be +9%.