Gas Storage Services and Regulation in Italy: A Delphi Analysis

Abstract

This article explores the economic characteristics of the Italian gas storage system. Microeconomic and qualitative methods are used to shed light on past, present and forecasted trends. Notwithstanding the entrenched stagnation of the sector, the analysis highlights a break in trends. The policy-driven phase of liberalization is ending and the market-driven phase has just begun. The former phase has granted fair access to storage, thus narrowing the drawbacks of dominant players, but it has proved dynamically inefficient. Cost-reflective tariffs, capacity constraints and low penalties have both lowered incentives to expand the range of tools for balancing gas demand and penalized industrial customers in the storage service provision. The market-driven phase has just started. The expected increase in working capacity and the entry of newcomers in the authorization process for new facilities are a progress towards the commercial use of storage. To this end, however, a further change in gas market design is needed: the creation of a well functioning spot market.