The gas from Qatar is not arriving and Italy must look for it elsewhere. A situation that has continued since April and will continue at least until the end of 2026. QatarEnergy has communicated to Edison that “due to reasons of force majeure” it will not be able to deliver another three loads of liquefied natural gas destined for the Adriatic LNG terminal, off the coast of Veneto. The number of methane tankers affected by the suspension of supplies thus rises to 38, for a total of approximately 5 billion cubic meters of gas, almost 8% of the national requirement for an entire year.
The good news is that, at least for the moment, there is no prospect of an interruption in supplies for Edison’s customers. The company announced that it has already replaced 27 LNG cargoes, corresponding to approximately 2.7 billion cubic meters, by purchasing alternative gas. Edison – which has had a 25-year contract with QatarEnergy since 2009 for 6.4 billion cubic meters of gas per year – ensures that it can satisfy all the commercial commitments undertaken.
At the origin of the crisis are the consequences of the war in the Middle East with the damage reported to the liquefied gas production plants in Ras Laffan, Qatar, and the navigation difficulties through the Strait of Hormuz which have compromised energy exports from the Persian Gulf. The situation could have consequences well beyond December: in September, Qatari Energy Minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi explained that repairing two of the damaged production units could take three years.
How much they risk increasing your bills
The real problem is not just finding alternative gas, but the price to pay. Today, gas on the European TTF market is worth around 95 euros per megawatt hour, while the Italian index is around 99 euros: prices have returned to levels not seen since the 2022 energy crisis.
If wholesale gas remains expensive, the consequences will come both on indexed domestic supplies and on electricity prices, still strongly influenced by the cost of methane-fuelled power plants.