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
| 17 Sep 25 |
Italy: Zenith Energy acquires solar energy project in Italy Zenith Energy has announced the signing of an agreement to acquire a solar energy development project located in the Puglia region of Italy by its wholly-owned Italian subsidiary created to manage its solar energy portfolio, WESOLAR. |
| 11 Sep 25 |
Italy: GreenIT signs €370 million financing agreement to support its industrial plan GreenIT, the Italian joint venture backed by Plenitude (a company controlled by Eni) and CDP Equity (part of CDP Group), has signed a new project finance agreement for a total amount of €370 million to support its renewable energy projects. |
| 29 Aug 25 |
Italy: Rockhopper Exploration provides update on disposal of Italian assets AIM-listed Rockhopper Exploration, the oil and gas company with key interests in the North Falkland Basin, has provided an update in respect of the insurance policy announced on 14 October 2024, intended to protect against an unsuccessful outcome in the Ombrina Mare ICSID arbitration, and the exit of Rockhopper's other Italian assets, as also announced on 14 October 2024. |
| 27 Aug 25 |
Italy: Zenith Energy acquires additional agrivoltaic solar energy development project in Lazio, Italy Zenith Energy has announced the acquisition of an additional agrivoltaic solar energy development project located in the Lazio region of Italy. The addition of a second agrivoltaic project in Lazio increases the Company's regional development capacity to 15 MWp and marks a further step in strengthening Zenith's Italian solar portfolio. |
| 21 Aug 25 |
Italy: Po Valley signs gas sales agreement with Hera Group Po Valley Energy has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Po Valley Operations Pty Limited (PVO), along with its Selva Malvezzi JV partners, have signed a new gas sales agreement (GSA) with Hera Group; a respected energy company with operational headquarters in the Bologna area. |
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
