The full commissioning of the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP) allowed Italy to become an active player in the European gas market and sell natural gas to neighboring countries this winter.
Report informs citing the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that this was facilitated by the fact that in Italy gas prices were relatively lower than in other European countries.
Italy has found itself in such an advantageous position that between Christmas and New Year, it sold natural gas to neighboring Switzerland and Austria.
What was the reason for such low prices for the country, whose own gas production covers only 3-4% of its annual demand?
First, the winter is relatively warm and, as a consequence, there is no need to take gas from underground gas storage facilities. Secondly, the commissioning of the TAP line, which not only diversified the routes of gas supplies, but also its sources.
According to experts, these two factors contributed to the reduction in gas prices on the Italian market by about 10 percent.
"The TAP pipeline, which connects the coast of Salento (Italy) with Albania, Greece and Turkey, delivers gas produced in Azerbaijan in the amount of up to 8 billion cubic meters per year. This is not only an increase in gas supplies, but also a diversification of its sources," the article said.