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
| 23 Apr 26 |
Italy: Zenith Energy announces acquisition of photovoltaic development project in Puglia Zenith Energy has announced the acquisition of a 5 MWp photovoltaic development project located in Puglia, Italy. The Puglia Acquisition covers approx. 5 hectares of land in proximity to a motorway, within areas classified as suitable for solar PV development under the applicable regulatory framework. |
| 21 Apr 26 |
Italy: Saipem awarded contract with Eni for the new Priolo biorefinery in Sicily Saipem has signed with Eni Industrial Evolution the main contract for the realization of the new Priolo biorefinery in Sicily, a project announced on February 3 by Eni and Q8 Italia. |
| 19 Apr 26 |
Italy: ACCIONA Energía secures contracts to decarbonize energy-intensive industry in Italy ACCIONA Energía has signed bilateral agreements totaling 800GWh of renewable energy to support the decarbonization of multiple energy-intensive industrial clients in Italy, including steel producer Acciaierie Venete. |
| 16 Apr 26 |
Italy: Zenith Energy provides update on submission of Novazza EIA Zenith Energy has provided an update in connection with its two applications for exploration permits covering Italy's two largest uranium deposits, located in the Lombardy region: the Val Vedello deposit in the Province of Sondrio and the Novazza deposit in the Province of Bergamo. |
| 12 Apr 26 |
Italy: Sonnedix secures 7.9TWh of contracts in Italy’s Energy Release 2.0 mechanism Sonnedix, a global renewable energy company with 12GW of total capacity, has secured 7.9TWh of contracts in Italy’s Energy Release 2.0 mechanism, winning 11.7% of the total awarded volume. |
Italy - more news
Other countries in this region
- Afghanistan,
- Albania,
- Armenia,
- Austria,
- Azerbaijan,
- Belarus,
- Belgium,
- Bosnia and Herzegovina,
- Bulgaria,
- Croatia,
- Cyprus,
- Czech Republic,
- Denmark,
- Estonia,
- Faroe Islands,
- Finland,
- France,
- Georgia,
- Germany,
- Greece,
- Greenland,
- Hungary,
- Iceland,
- Ireland,
- Kazakhstan,
- Kyrgyzstan,
- Latvia,
- Lithuania,
- Luxembourg,
- Malta,
- Moldova,
- Montenegro,
- Netherlands,
- Norway,
- Poland,
- Portugal,
- Romania,
- Russia,
- Serbia,
- Slovakia,
- Slovenia,
- Spain,
- Sweden,
- Switzerland,
- Tajikistan,
- Tatarstan,
- Turkey,
- Turkmenistan,
- Ukraine,
- United Kingdom,
- Uzbekistan
