The situation of the methane sector in Italy is becoming increasingly critical and on the issue of rising energy prices, and natural gas in particular, Assogasmetano is launching yet another alarm. According to the trade association, which has already asked for a decisive intervention by the Government several times, faced with this escalation, the sector will find itself out of the market and risk closure. “In recent days, international gas prices, also following the cut in supplies from Russia, have unfortunately started to gallop – they explain to the headquarters – Currently, the prices that operators in the methane sector for cars have to face are about eight times those of a year ago and forecasts do not suggest a downsizing, at least in the short term.
Even the recent attempt by our Government to reach an agreement in the Community, aimed at establishing a “price cap”, a ceiling on the price of gas, to avoid speculation and “crazy” prices, has failed and the discussion on the subject has been postponed to next autumn “. In short, with the persistence of this situation, road distribution operators, who have been suffering this crisis for over a year now, will be forced to heavily adjust the retail prices of methane for cars.
A real joke for a product that has always been appreciated above all for its economy of operation compared to other fuels and, if a solution is not found soon, the filling stations will close. In addition to the very heavy damage to the operators of the entire supply chain, the repercussions will inevitably also affect motorists and road hauliers who have chosen natural gas as a reference fuel for the sustainability of transport.
Precisely in this sense, Flavio Merigo, president of Assogasmetano hopes for “an immediate and urgent intervention by the Government to find a solution to this state of crisis, which can avoid the annihilation of a sector that has done so much and still it will be able to do more in the coming years for the ecological transition, being, in fact, the bridge towards the use of biomethane and hydrogen in transport ”. Finally, it should be noted that in June, the national average price was € 1.904 / kg and the highest average prices were recorded in Calabria, Valle D’Aosta, Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige, Basilicata and Piedmont (from 2.152 to 2.008 € / kg), while the lowest average prices were found in Molise, Abruzzo, Puglia, Umbria, Tuscany and Lazio (from 1.353 to 1.805 € / kg). (Maurilio Rigo)