ITALIAN MEPS DIVIDED ON SHALE GAS
Europe for Freedom and Democracy MEP Oreste Rossi supports unconventional gas exploitation in Italy, whereas the European Parliament Energy Committee Vice Chair Patrizia Toia, a Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats member, pledges US shale gas import from the USA. Both the Italian MEPs agree on the necessity to realize a EU common energy market to diversify European gas supplies.
STRASBOURG-Shale gas is a real opportunity for Italy to diversify national gas supplies and strengthen Italian national security. However, both right wing and center-left wing Italian MEPs have different proposals on how Italy can take advantage of unconventional gas.
On Wednesday June 12, 2013, during a meeting with Italian medias at the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, MEP Oreste Rossi, a member of right wing group Europe for Freedom and Democracy (EFD), said Italy should develop its own shale gas.
Mr. Rossi stated that, as demonstrated by international studies, the Italian rock seabed could contain shale gas fields. So, Italy, as well as other EU countries already did, should verify the presence of unconventional gas fields in Italian national waters.
Mr. Rossi added that shale gas exploitation in Italy should be regulated by a strict pro-environmental regulation, in order to avoid the use of the same polluting substances the USA is adopting to extract unconventional gas in US shale gas fields.
Mr. Rossi also stressed that he is in favor of the EU Southern Corridor realization. This infrastructure, a combination of Nabucco and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), is planed by the European Commission to import natural gas from Azerbaijan, in order to decrease the EU high dependence on natural gas supplies from Russia and Algeria.
“Instead of shale gas import from the USA, I support the production of our own shale gas in Italy. We also need a EU common energy market, in order to integrate both unconventional gas and renewable energy sources in the European Energy Transportation System” Mr. Rossi said to Welfare Network.
MEP Patrizia Toia, European Parliament Energy Commission Vice Chair and a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (PASD), agreed with her colleague in what concerns the need to build a EU common energy market.
Mrs. Toia underlined that the EU should realize a common European system of distribution as soon as possible. The EU, in her opinion, must also diversify gas supplies by taking advantage of both new pipelines and US unconventional gas.
Mrs. Toia envisioned TAP pipeline as a quite interesting project to realize, in order to carry Azerbaijani gas to Italy. Mrs. Toia also stated that both the EU common energy market and gas supplies diversification will drop gas costs for private customers and citizens.
“We need a EU common energy market to develop the use of renewable sources and help a sustainable development. Furthermore, the EU was created from the European Community of Steel and Coal” Mrs. Toia said.
Otherwise than Mr. Rossi, Mrs. Toia did not agree with shale gas research and development in Italy due to environmental and procedural reasons. However, she encouraged shale gas import to Italy from the USA, as already suggested by Italian Minister of the Economic Development Flavio Zanonato and Italian national energy concern ENI CEO Paolo Scaroni.
During a plenary session of the Italian Parliament, Minister Zanonato declared that Italy must prepare to import US shale gas as soon as possible, in order to avoid the exclusion of Italian industrial system from the globalized world.
In an interview on the Financial Times, Mr. Scaroni expressed the hope that US Shale gas will drop gas prices worldwide, starting from Italy.
MEP Andrea Zanoni, a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), said he totally opposes shale gas development in Italy without any environmental regulation.
Mr. Zanoni, the Environmental Impact Directive relator in the European Parliament, endorsed the need of a severe EU law to regulate shale gas extraction in Europe.
Mr. Zanoni also criticized the USA for ignoring important procedures that secure the safety of the environment during shale gas exploitation.
THE VOTE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON SHALE GAS
On November 21, 2013, the European Parliament passed two resolutions that allow shale gas development in the EU. Both resolutions were supported by Popular (EPP), Conservative (ECR) and EFD MEPs yeah vote. Greens and Liberals (ALDE) voted against, the Progressives (PASD) abstained.
The first resolution, proposed by EPP MEP Boguslaw Sonik, affirms that shale gas can be extracted in the EU by adopting preventive measures in support of the environment as proper planning, testing, use of new and best technologies, best industrial practices.
A second resolution, presented by EFD MEP Niki Tzavela, allows each EU country to develop its own shale gas research program, and calls the EU to follow US example for fracking techniques that require companies to capture methane and other pollutant emission used to bring from fields unconventional gas.
THE EU AND THE USA: POOLS OF SHALE GAS
According to last EIA report on Shale gas presence in Europe, shale gas highest potential is owned by Poland –with 140 Trillion of Cubic Feet of technical recoverable shale gas resources-, followed by France -137- Rumania -51- Denmark -32- the UK and the Netherlands –both with 26- Bulgaria and Germany –both with 17-, Sweden -10- and Spain -8.
Shale gas exploration was already started in the EU by Poland, UK, Rumania, Lithuania, Greece, Denmark, Hungary, Sweden, Slovakia, Estonia, Spain and Portugal. France, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Czech Republic put a moratorium on shale gas exploitation.
Moreover, the UK, following the example of several Asian countries as India, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, started to import liquefied shale gas shipped from the USA. Spain, Italy, Poland and Lithuania also expressed interest in US shale gas import.
The new report by the EIA certifies that the USA has 567 Trillion of Cubic Feet of shale gas technically recoverable resources. The start of shale gas exploitation, improved under President Obama Administration, allowed the USA to increase US gas production.
US energy companies are now waiting for the green lite by US Department of Energy, in order to start shipping US liquefied shale gas worldwide.
According to EIA previsions, US Department of State green lite will make the USA the first gas exporter in the world, overcoming in the international ranking of gas exporters Russia, Algeria, Qatar and Turkmenistan.
Matteo Cazzulani
Welfare Network
2013-06-16
