MILAN (Reuters) -Italy is taking aim at gas transport costs as it seeks to narrow the spread between wholesale gas prices in Amsterdam and Italy as a way of reducing domestic energy bills, Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said on Wednesday.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is under pressure to reduce the cost of energy both for companies and customers, who are paying much more than the average energy price in Europe.
“I want to correct an anomaly,” Pichetto said during a conference in Milan.
The wholesale price for natural gas traded on the Italian market, the PSV, is normally higher than the FFT, which is traded on the Amsterdam hub, by some 2-4 euros per megawatt hour.
The government is mainly looking at a way to eliminate the transport cost for gas entering Italy from northern Europe, which covers around 10% of total gas consumption.
“The cancellation (of this transport cost) can take place in various ways, for example through a reimbursement to those who pay for it,” Pichetto said, adding it would be up to the energy authority to define the specific mechanism.
The minister did not clarify whether the government would be the one footing the bill for the reimbursement of transport costs, but said he believes this measure could reduce significantly the gas bills for customers.
“All this could have a very significant effect, amounting to many, many, many hundreds of millions on the bills paid by citizens.”
(Reporting by Giancarlo Navach and Francesca Landini, writing by Gianluca Semeraro and Francesca Landini, editing by Cristina Carlevaro and Elaine Hardcastle)
