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
25 Jul 24 |
Italy: Plenitude completes new 39 MW wind farm in Calabria Plenitude has completed the construction of a new onshore wind farm with a capacity of around 39 MW in Borgia (in the province of Catanzaro), Calabria, Italy. |
21 Jun 24 |
Italy: Rockhopper Exploration announces receipt of Tranche 1 Funds for the Ombrina Mare Monetisation Transaction Rockhopper Exploration has provided an update in relation to the monetisation of its Ombrina Mare Arbitration Award announced on 20 December 2023. Rockhopper has received €19 million of the €45 million Tranche 1 payment. |
04 Jun 24 |
Italy: RWE to build 53-MW wind farm in Italy Following the construction start of San Severo at the end of 2023, RWE has started the construction of another wind farm in the Apulia region in south-east Italy. The 53 MW Mondonuovo wind farm is scheduled to be commissioned in 2025. |
03 May 24 |
Italy: Prospex Energy provides update on the Selva Malvezzi production concession in Italy Prospex Energy, the AIM quoted investment company focused on European gas and power projects, has provided an update from the Selva Malvezzi production concession in Italy. |
02 May 24 |
Italy: Heads of Agreement signed between Gunvor and LNEnergy Reabold Resources has announced the execution of a non-binding Heads of Agreement between Gunvor International and LNEnergy for the purchase of liquefied natural gas ('LNG') by Gunvor from LNEnergy from the Colle Santo gas field, located onshore Italy. LNEnergy has the exclusive right to acquire a 90% interest in Colle Santo and Reabold owns a 26.1% equity interest in LNEnergy. |
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