Gazprom curtails gas flows to Italy by one third in further cut

Bloomberg

Russia’s Gazprom PJSC will further cut gas supplies to Italy by about one third, the country’s energy giant Eni SpA said in a statement on Monday.
Gazprom announced that it will supply Eni with approximately 21 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, compared to an average of about 32 million cubic meters per day over the last few days.
The one-third cut will further reduce gas supply that has already been curtailed by as much as a half since mid June. It comes as Italy battles with drought and a heatwave that are hitting power generation and as the country struggles to fill storages for the winter.
Russian natural gas shipments to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany are due to stop because of planned annual maintenance, but European leaders have voiced concern that Russia may shut off gas deliveries in retaliation for sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.
Italy’s gas storage sites are now about 60% full and the government has introduced measures, including a $4 billion loan, to speed up the filling process. Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government is trying to diversify supply to cut reliance on the Russian gas.
If Moscow were to halt deliveries altogether, Italy would face a recession, Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco warned.
Meanwhile, European natural gas fell after Canada said it would return a stranded turbine for a key Russian pipeline to Germany, raising optimism that tensions with Moscow over energy supplies will ease.