Moscow (Platts)--28Feb2011/543 am EST/1043 GMT
Gazprom has increased its daily Russian gas deliveries to Italy by around 30% after unrest in Libya led to the shutdown of the 11 billion cubic meter/year Greenstream pipeline last week, a source close to Gazprom said Monday. The source told Platts it was unclear how long the gas supplies would remain at an elevated level. Gazprom's deliveries reached 81.1 million cu m/day on Thursday, up from a daily average of 63 million-65 million cu m on weekdays and 54 million-55 million cu m at weekends, Russian news agency Interfax reported Friday, citing Italy's gas grid operator Snam Rete Gas. Snam Rete Gas was not available for comment. Last Tuesday Eni, Italy's main gas supplier and the parent of Snam Rete Gas, announced it had shut down Greenstream. Greenstream, which is a joint venture between Eni and the National Oil Corporation of Libya, exported around 9.4 billion cu m of gas to Italy in 2010. It runs from Mellitah in Libya to Gela in Sicily, Italy. According to the European Commission, 30% of Italy's gas supplies come from Russia, with Libya typically supplying around 11%. Thirty-three percent of the country's gas imports come from Algeria and 9% from Norway. The increase in Russian supplies to Italy is likely to be temporary, according to a research note by investment company Alfa Bank. "There could be other positive implications for Russia, as the incident is likely to underscore the country's reputation as a reliable gas supplier and could ease concern over Russia's large share of European gas markets," the note said. Within Europe, Libya only delivers gas to Italy and Spain. Libyan gas represents 1.5% of Spanish imports.--Jake Rudnitsky, jake_rudnitsky@platts.comSimilar stories appear in International Gas Report. See more information at http://bit.ly/InternationalGasReport