7 April | Gas

Italy to compensate gas companies in order to achieve 90% storage fill rate

Italy to compensate gas companies in order to achieve 90% storage fill rate

Italy is introducing a new incentive system for companies to speed up the filling of gas storage facilities. At the end of the winter season, they were only 42% full, according to electricity grid operator Snam. This raises concerns about the country's readiness for the next heating season.

The European Commission has obliged EU countries to fill 90% of their gas reservoirs by 1 November. This is necessary to avoid supply shortages and sharp price fluctuations during the winter months. However, the initiative has caused prices for summer gas contracts to rise. This dynamic in turn means that there is no market incentive for traders to pump fuel into storage facilities. The current situation is also prompting EU countries to negotiate changes to storage fill targets, Reuters notes.

Under the new Italian scheme, gas pumping companies will be compensated for negative differences between summer and winter prices. The scheme will remain in place until a target filling rate of 90% is reached. According to Snam's preliminary estimates, operators will need to pump about 9.4 billion cubic meters of gas to reach that level.

Anton Volkov MarketCheese
Period: 29.08.2025 Expectation: 2000 pips
USDJPY flat trend likely to be replaced by another growth wave
Yesterday at 09:50 AM 48
Period: 29.08.2025 Expectation: 200 pips
Breaking $6,415 for SPX will unlock path towards $6,435
Yesterday at 06:59 AM 33
Period: 31.08.2025 Expectation: 180 pips
High demand and low US oil inventories propel Brent price growth
Yesterday at 06:19 AM 56
Period: 31.08.2025 Expectation: 2300 pips
SPX set to retest broken support at $6,435
20 August 2025 62
Period: 31.08.2025 Expectation: 630 pips
AUDUSD aims to retest breached 0.6480 level
20 August 2025 68
Period: 29.08.2025 Expectation: 1100 pips
USDCAD poised to test 1.398–1.4 range
20 August 2025 51
Go to forecasts