The Southern Gas Corridor: Needs, Opportunities and Constraints

In the last decade international political events and long-term economic trends have raised increasing concerns about Europe’s energy security, particularly in the gas sector. The European Union, and Italy in particular, depend heavily on natural gas imported from few producing countries. Rising concerns about the security of these supplies urged the European Union and its Member States to intensify their diversification efforts, by opening new routes of transit and relying on new sources of supply. In this context, the Southern Gas Corridor is probably the most promising initiative. This paper analyses the opportunities and constraints of the Southern Corridor, its uncertain progress and the limited resources available to be exported to the EU markets. It focuses, in particular, on Italy's energy outlook and how the development of the Southern Corridor may change it.

Background paper for the roundtable "The Development of the Southern Corridor and the Italian Energy Interests", Rome, 24 June 2011.