Europe / Caspian / CIS
Country profile: Italy
| Location: | Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia |
| Climate: | predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south |
| Terrain: | mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands |
| Size: | 301230 sq. km total (Land area: 294020 sq. km Water area: 7210 sq.km) |
| Population: | 58,145,321 (July 2008 est.) |
| Languages: | Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area) |
| Government: | republic |
| Capital city: | Rome |
| Legal system: | based on civil law system; appeals treated as new trials; judicial review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Currency: | euro (EUR) |
| Licensing: |
Country profile
With limited domestic energy sources, Italy is highly dependent on imports to meet its consumption needs. In absolute terms, oil consumption has remained relatively static since 1970, but oil's share of Italy’s primary energy mix has decreased significantly, steadily replaced by natural gas. A pressing issue affecting Italy has been the country's electricity supply. Over the past decade, Italy’s installed electricity generation has not been able to keep up with demand, resulting in an increased share of electricity imports as a percent of total consumption.
Oil is the largest source of Italy’s energy consumption, representing 47 percent of primary energy consumption in 2004. Natural gas is the second-largest with 35 percent of primary energy consumption, followed by minor contributions from coal (8 percent), hydroelectricity (5 percent), and other renewables (2 percent). Unlike many other OECD countries, Italy still relies upon oil for a sizable portion of electricity generation: preliminary International Energy Agency (IEA) data for 2005 shows that Italy relied upon oil for 16 percent of its electricity generation, versus 5 percent for the OECD as a whole.
Energy production and consumption
| Oil | Gas | |
| Production: | 164,800 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 11 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
| Consumption: | 1 million bbl/day (2005 est.) | 82 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
| Exports: | 521,400 bbl/day (2004 est.) | 379 million cu m (2005 est.) |
| Imports: | 2 million bbl/day (2004 est.) | 70 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
| Reserves: | 621 million bbl/day (2006 est.) | 217 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Major fields: |
Italy - recent news
| 14 Oct 24 |
Italy: Rockhopper provides update on Ombrina Mare insurance and disposal of Italian assets Rockhopper Exploration has announced it has put in place an insurance policy to cover the event that the Italian Republic succeeds in its attempt to have the Rockhopper Ombrina Mare Arbitration Award annulled and has also signed a share purchase agreement ('SPA') with Zodiac Energy to exit its other Italian assets. |
| 11 Oct 24 |
Italy: Zenith Energy provides update on Italian energy production Zenith Energy has provided an update on its Italian energy production activities. The Company's Italian energy production portfolio continues to deliver robust profitability, buoyed by recent increases in the energy pricing. |
| 03 Sep 24 |
Italy: Eni and Snam launch Ravenna CCS, Italy’s first Carbon Capture and Storage project Eni and Snam, within the framework of the equal Joint Venture set up for the purpose, have announced the commencement of CO2 injection activities in the reservoir for Phase 1 of Ravenna CCS. Designed to support industrial decarbonisation, Ravenna CCS is the first project for the capture, transport and permanent storage of CO2 in Italy created for exclusively environmental purposes. |
| 19 Aug 24 |
Italy: Eni starts gas production from the Argo Cassiopea field in the Strait of Sicily Eni has started gas production from the Argo Cassiopea field, the most important gas development project in Italy. The gas, coming from one of the four subsea wells drilled in recent months in the Strait of Sicily, has been transported through a 60 km subsea pipeline to the Gela processing plant. Here it will be processed and then fed into the national grid, contributing to Italy's energy needs. |
| 05 Aug 24 |
Italy: Plenitude and Ferriera Valsabbia sign 10-year renewable energy supply agreement Plenitude has signed a 10-year Corporate PPA(1) with Ferriera Valsabbia for the supply of energy produced 100% from a renewable source. The agreement covers the entire output of a 15MW wind farm owned by Plenitude and located in the municipality of Sannicandro di Bari (Apulia, Italy). |
Italy - more news
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