By Francesca Landini and Giancarlo Navach
March 5 (Reuters) – Italy’s gas supplies should not face short-term disruption from the crisis in the Middle East, the CEO of state-controlled gas grid operator Snam said on Thursday.
“All the vessels (due in March) that take gas from Qatar left before the explosion of the crisis, they passed the Strait of Hormuz and are already moving towards the final destination so we do not expect any disruptions during March,” Agostino Scornajenchi said while presenting Snam’s strategy to 2030.
“We will see what happens in April,” he added, noting there were limited volumes due to come to Italy from Qatar.
Qatar accounts for around 7 billion cubic metres (bcm) of Italy’s annual gas imports, covering roughly 11% of the Mediterranean country’s consumption.
Italian gas storage facilities are currently 45% full, compared with an average of around 30% in Europe.
Under its new strategy, Snam plans to invest 14 billion euros ($16 billion) over the next five years, focusing on gas infrastructure including storage assets and liquefied natural gas terminals.
The gas grid operator expects to divest non-core assets worth 1.6 billion euros and sees potential selective acquisitions worth 1.2 billion euros.
Scornajenchi said Snam was happy with its 11.4% stake in gas distributor Italgas, but its holding in De Nora was not a core investment, though there was no urgency to sell it. Snam also said it was doubling down on developing a carbon capture and storage project launched with Eni and would inject 400 million euros into the storage business.
The group reported a 10.3% rise in adjusted full-year net profit to 1.42 billion euros, in line with its guidance. It forecast a profit of around 1.45 billion euros for 2026. Net income is expected to grow an average 4.5% per year until 2030 under its new plan.
($1 = 0.8621 euros)
(Additional reporting by Mirko Miorelli in Gdansk. Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Mark Potter)