Oil and gas, a new season opens in Italy. After years of moratorium, it can start again gas production in the Upper Adriatic as well as investments in the Sicilian channel for the development of crude oil made in Italy. And the decree unblocks Italy, published on the official gazette, which relaunches the activity in the hydrocarbons, hampered by local vetoes in the last twenty years. Miracle? Rather, the will to reopen the chapter kept in the drawer for too long by the Regions and to go back to deciding, with a yes or a no, on a strategic issue for the country. And with the prospect of seeing it flow 2,5 billion a year in tax revenue (the assessment was made by Rie, Alberto Clò's research center in 2012. But nothing has changed since then) into the exhausted state coffers.
The research and development of hydrocarbons as well as the storage of gas, become activities "of strategic interest and are of public utility, urgent and cannot be postponed", states article 38 wanted by the Minister of Development Federica Guidi. But above all, it will no longer be necessary to ask for a permit for exploration and another permit for the development of reservoirs. The double passage made the authorization process uncertain in the face of significant investments, with absolutely incompatible times: even 20 years from discovery to production against an average of ten abroad.
So comes the “single concession title”: a single authorization for both activities, divided into an initial phase of 6 years for exploration and 30 for production. But above all, the Regions that already have environmental assessment procedures (EIA) in progress will have to conclude them by 31 2014 December. Then, all the documentation will pass to the Ministry of the Environment which will become responsible for issuing not only off shore permits but also those on land. The Via will be replaced by the Vas (strategic environmental assessment) but at least only 1 commission of experts will decide instead of 20 and there will be a single address for the whole national territory. Companies have time 90 days to choose whether to keep the old applications presented to the Regions or opt for the new path with the Ministry of the Environment (which also involves economic development). And there is no doubt that they will choose the migration: the first requests are already arriving at their destination.
In practice, a revolution that does not exclude the Regions (their involvement remains) but reduces their veto power. It now remains to be seen whether the text will stand up to the parliamentary test and when the implementing regulation will arrive (the text provides for six months but the attempt is to close everything by the end of the year). At stake are 57 requests for research permits (it is all traced on the Mise website www.unmig.it) which alone could generate 100 to 150 million in immediate investments, according to reliable estimates. But the hoard is very substantial if one considers that the 40 key projects, already ready, are valued at around 15 billion (new, more up-to-date estimates are in progress) and have so far remained nailed to over 100 Via requests that have been firm for years (some date back to 1996). The decree should revive the interest of large groups such as Eni, Total, Shell and Edison, but the smaller ones are also in the running. In particular, Exploenergy by Stefano Cao (former number one of E&P Eni), Gas Plus, Appenine, Northsun are moving. Article 36 of the decree that releases, from the constraints of the internal stability pact, the resources arrived from hydrocarbons that otherwise would not have been expendable thinks of the Regions.
In the Upper Adriatic, where the Italian gas fields are shared with Croatia which is rapidly activating, the exit from the moratorium which has blocked the permits already acquired by Eni and Edison is being facilitated. Work is expected to resume for 5 years provided it is ascertained that there are no effects of subsidence (ie land subsidence) under the coast, ie in the area near Venice. But we will start from more distant projects where the engineering estimates have excluded risks. The projects in Basilicata and the Strait of Sicily are also in pole position. The goal is to use the treasure underground: about 2 billion cubic meters of gas more per year could arrive from the Adriatic alone, another billion from Sicily: a precious treasure compared to the 65 billion cubic meters of gas that we will consume this year of which only 4,2 produced in Italy against the 20 billion we were able to produce until the 80s.
