Italian imports of Libyan gas in November increased to about half of the level seen prior to the conflict in the North African country last year, while overall demand for natural gas in Italy was down 2.5% in the month, according to ministry data Wednesday.
Imports of gas through the Greenstream pipeline connecting Libya to Italy totaled 421 million cubic meters in November, the Ministro di Sviluppo Economico said Wednesday. This was a drop of 51% from 856 million cu m in the year-ago month, but an increase from 80 million cu m imported in October through the undersea link.
Imports of Algerian gas were also significantly lower in November, with the country importing 1.22 billion cu m through the Trans-Tunisian pipeline into Mazara del Vallo in Sicily, down from 2.21 Bcm last November.
Overall, gas demand in Italy fell 2.5% on the year to 7.59 Bcm.
Imports on the whole were down 17% to 5.61 Bcm, while national production increased 4.0% to 717 million cu m, the ministry data showed.
Withdrawals from storage almost tripled on the year, totaling 1.28 Bcm in November compared with 331 million cu m in the year-ago month.
Imports from all other major pipelines and LNG terminals were also down compared with 2010, the data showed.
The country imported the equivalent of 168 million cu m of LNG via the Panigaglia terminal on the west coast, down 19% on the year, and 531 million cu m of regasified LNG via the Adriatic LNG terminal on the east coast, down 18%. Imports of Russian gas through Tarvisio fell 3.4% to 2.73 Bcm.
In the year-to-date, gas demand is down 4.8%, MSE said, with pipelines importing mostly Russian and Norwegian gas through Tarvisio and Passo Gries the busiest, to make up for the Libyan shortfall.
Imports from Libya were down 79% year-on-year for the 11 months, while pipeline imports from Algeria were down 14%. Imports via Tarvisio increased 25% in the 11-month period while imports from the North Sea region via Passo Gries increased 28%, MSE said.
