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Italy Energy Liquefied Natural Gas - LNG

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the United States is playing an increasing role in Italy’s energy mix.  U.S. LNG and U.S. technologies for optimizing the performance of Italian LNG regasifying plants are welcome in Italy.

Italy is the second largest market for natural gas in Europe, which aligns with the country’s ambitious energy transition plans to reach zero emissions by 2050 and concurrent plan to phase out fossil fuels.

Italy’s goal for the power generation sector is to generate electricity almost exclusively from renewable sources (80%) and nuclear power (11 - 22%) by 2050.  Until then, natural gas will remain fundamental to integrate the contribution of intermittent renewables sources to the Italian power grid and to support the energy transition by substituting other fossil fuels that have a heavier carbon footprint.  Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is a transition fuel in line with Italy’s decarbonization objectives, offering a cleaner alternative to traditional fossil fuels and helping to bridge the gap toward a low-carbon future while ensuring energy security.

In 2023, natural gas constituted 35% of Italy’s energy mix, of which over 95% was imported.  LNG represents an ever-growing portion of natural gas imported into Italy.  Because of the conflict in the Ukraine, Italy started to seek alternative sources to replace Russian natural gas through pipeline imports from other countries and through LNG shipments.

In 2024, LNG made up 25% of natural gas imports into Italy (vs. 23% in 2023 and 11% in 2022), amounting to approximately 14.6 billion cubic meters (bcm).  LNG imported into Italy in 2024 originated from Qatar (45.21% - approx. 6.6 bcm), the United States (34.93% - approx. 5.2 bcm), Algeria (13.70% - approx. 2 bcm), Russia (1.37% - approx. 0.2 bcm), and other countries (4.79% - approx. 0.7 bcm).  U.S. LNG imports constitute an ever-increasing portion of total LNG imports into Italy (34.93% in 2024, 33% in 2023, 21% in 2022 and 9.6% in 2021).

Italy has five operational LNG regassification facilities: Panigaglia (onshore), Adriatic LNG (offshore gravity-based structure), and Livorno, Piombino and Ravenna (all of them Floating Storage and Regassification Units - FSRUs).  The Ravenna FSRU became operational in April 2025 and brought Italy’s total regassification capacity to approximately 28 bcm.  No further LNG regassification terminals are planned.

All seven (7) active U.S. LNG export terminals located on the East Coast of the United States and the Gulf of America, are currently shipping LNG to Italy.  Information about Italian LNG offtakers is confidential; however, several major international and Italian energy firms are active in the Italian market in the purchase of natural gas, both via pipeline and LNG.  On April 17, 2025, President Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni confirmed their resolve to promote a mutually beneficial relationship and further strengthen the U.S. – Italy strategic alliance across security, economic, and technological issues.  

Specifically on energy, the U.S. and Italy will cooperate to strengthen energy security by further encouraging the diversification of Italy’s energy supply sources and by increasing exports of U.S. LNG to Italy in a mutually beneficial manner.  The EU, of which Italy is part, has also recently indicated that aggregate EU purchases of U.S. LNG could be an option to diversify energy supplies.  In Italy, there is also demand for technologies that can reduce methane and CO2 emissions in LNG regassification plants and can contribute to the overall functioning of such plants.

There is high worldwide demand for U.S. LNG, thus Italian firms are encouraged to secure supplies from the U.S. through long term contacts to avoid future supply disruptions.  The European Commission has proposed that from 2050 onwards, companies and countries in the EU would be permitted to sign long-term supply contracts for fossil gas only if it includes carbon capture or other emission-reducing technologies.  The EU is also set on implementing the EU Methane Regulation (EUMR), which will impose increasingly strict methane emissions transparency requirements on importers of fossil fuels, including LNG, into the EU market.  Further discussions and analysis on both issues are ongoing.  If you are a U.S. exporter of LNG or LNG-related technologies and are interested in exploring the Italian market, please contact Commercial Specialist Federico Bevini at federico.bevini@trade.gov.