Gas, alarm from Qatar. Pichetto: let's talk to everyone to compensate

Despite attempts to reassure the markets, the alert for possible shocks on oil and gas remains high. In the meantime, the cut in excise duties is starting to take effect, and 87% of distributors, according to data released by Mimit, have begun to reduce fuel prices, while the controls required by the Rapid Alert Commission, which will meet again on Monday, continue. The focus is mainly on gas. According to the Qatari government, the Iranian attacks against the Ras Laffan plant will reduce natural gas export capacity by 17% in five years, causing the country to lose USD 20 billion in annual revenue. This is of particular concern to Italia, which takes a significant part of its LNG supply from Doha.

No information, however, has yet arrived on a possible extension of the force majeure for gas supplies from QatarEnergy to Edison. "We have no further official communication," commented the company's CEO Nicola Monti after being notified of the occurrence of a force majeure event, as a result of which QatarEnergy had informed Edison that it will not be able to fulfil its contractual obligations relating to certain deliveries of LNG cargoes scheduled to start in early April. Ras Laffan is the most important port for LNG exports with two helium extraction plants making Qatar one of the world's top producers. "We are talking to everyone. Directly, through our companies and through Eni," explained the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin responding to those who asked him whether Italia was talking at this point with Algeria, Azerbaijan, and the United States for supplies of LNG from Qatar. "We try to facilitate the initiatives of our private companies."

The mission of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday 25 March to Algeria to push for supplies could also be read in this light, according to Bloomberg reports. 'For gas supplies from Algeria,' explained an Eni spokesperson, 'we are receiving quantities within the perimeter of existing contracts according to the country's availability. Minister Pichetto highlighted that current supply levels will be maintained over the next ten days: "I believe that we can also start with storage in the 2026-2027 perspective around mid-April. The assessment has to be made with respect to the capacity of the pumps, the flow rate, and how much we can inject. It is a question of timing. In view of these aspects and a war that makes him revisit 'the spectre of 1973' Pichetto trusts that the discussion on nuclear power 'will reach the Chamber of Deputies in April, which means having a proxy law as a finished product by the summer and then the implementing regulations to be made'.

In the meantime, to cope with the emergency of these days, the minister reiterated that on the duration of the excise decree that has just come into force for twenty days, 'we will see as we go along, because we do not know what the picture will be in 20 days'. In the meantime, Mimit noted that the effects of the cut are beginning to be seen, with self-service diesel returned below two euros per litre, while on the basis of the latest data from the Fuel Price Observatory, the number of distribution plants that have reduced them has risen from 60% in the first morning check to 87% in the afternoon. The adjustment of price lists is also reflected in the average price of fuels: at 3 p.m., the average price in self-service mode on the national road network stood at EUR 1.712 per litre for petrol and EUR 1.958 per litre for diesel. For those who continue their speculation by not adjusting their price lists - 4.5% of petrol stations - the Guardia di Finanza's monitoring continues.

Other countries, such as Spain, and even Brazil, a producer country, are also deciding on lines of defence against the oil crisis. Crude oil today remained below the warning levels, as did the financial markets and bond markets as a whole, but continuous warnings continue. Most recently the one from Saudi Arabia, according to which the price of oil could skyrocket to $180 per barrel if the energy crisis continues beyond April. These price levels could trigger, reports the US press along with Riyadh's statements, 'a recession or a change in consumer behaviour that would collapse demand'.