Mild early winter temperatures, higher natural gas prices and even imposed savings measures (in addition to those intended to avoid stinging bills) dampened consumption. The gap compared to 2021 is noteworthy, but it has recorded the highest values ​​in the past ten years. This is shown by Staffetta Gas, Staffetta Quotidiana’s monthly supply and demand service. After 2021 at the highest level in the past ten years, 2022 closes with a major crash. In the year that just ended, volumes passing through Italian pipelines were 9.5% lower than in 2021 and 2.8% below the average for the past ten years (2012 to 2021), with the industrial sector in deep red (-15.3). %) followed by the civilian (-13.4%). The consumption of thermal plants – which compensated for the collapse of hydroelectric power – decreased by only 3.1%.

Compared to 2021, all months of the year, except February and March, recorded a double-digit decline from September onwards: -21.6 in the last quarter of the year, with November down nearly 25%. In 2022, according to Staffetta Quotidiana’s explanations on Snam Rete Gas data, Italy consumed less than 69 billion cubic meters (68.991 to be exact), 2 billion cubic meters less than the decade average and 7.2 billion less than in 2021, which was The highest value in the past 10 years, although it’s just over $9.8 billion from the all-time high value for 2005: 86.1 billion cubic metres.