Under Meloni, Italy wants to use more of its own gas reserves

With rising energy costs, the new Italian government led by right-wing politician Giorgia Meloni wants to develop more domestic gas reserves. “Our seas have gas reserves that we must fully exploit,” the party leader of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia demanded Monday in front of members of the House of Representatives in Rome.

During her first government statement in the larger of the two chambers of parliament, she said the current energy crisis could be, paradoxically, an “opportunity for Italy”. “I am convinced that with a little courage and a pragmatic spirit, Italy could emerge from this crisis stronger and more autonomous than before,” said the 45-year-old. Southern Italy is about “the paradise for renewable energy sources with sun, wind, geothermal energy”. “Green energy” was often blocked there by bureaucracy.

Before the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, Italy imported almost 40 percent of its gas needs from Russia. Under Meloni’s predecessor Mario Draghi, Rome signed new supply agreements with Qatar, Algeria and Azerbaijan. The Mediterranean country of almost 60 million inhabitants also has its own gas reserves, for example around the island of Sicily or on the Adriatic coast, where little has been produced until now. (aeg/sda/awp/dpa)