(Adnkronos) – The price cap on fuels, introduced first by Eni and Socar (Ip/Esso) and then by Q8, is an important effort but cannot be a definitive solution. A new European energy strategy is needed. Gianni Murano, president of Unem, which represents the main companies operating in Italy in the processing, logistics, and distribution of petroleum products, low-carbon energy products, including biofuels and e-fuels, discusses this in an interview with Adnkronos.
“The sensitivity shown first by Eni, then by Socar and Q8, which are integrated companies and therefore have, also in terms of shareholding, a very broad reference in the supply chain ranging from upstream to distribution, is certainly an important sign of attention towards this country, of attention to consumers, with a decidedly important effort, because we are talking about a discount ranging from 15 to 17 euro cents per liter,” is the premise. This, he continues, “is an important effort that can be sustained, obviously not definitively, and which will also depend heavily on the international context. It is a particularly complex context, in which international prices, especially for finished products, are taking on increasingly important dimensions day by day, in the sense that finished products are strengthening against oil, against Brent, and this therefore opens up other considerations.”
Murano, however, highlights that the path to take is another. “The direction we must take, which Europe must take, is precisely to rethink a European energy strategy that cannot ignore liquid fuel products, which, like it or not, are still responsible for more than 90% of mobility, both light road, aviation, and maritime.” According to the president of Unem, “what is absolutely necessary to do at this stage is an evaluation, an assessment, of what the energy capacity is as requested, therefore the European energy demand, and how Europe responds to this demand.”
“It may seem like a paradox, but we need more Europe, that is, we need a European energy strategy that puts energy at the center, but as European energy. There are nations that have zero-cost energy and cannot export that energy because there are bottlenecks in the European electricity distribution system; there are nations like Italy that have a surplus of refining capacity and other nations, France and Germany, that have a shortage and are therefore forced to import. If we start to see the assets of individual countries as European assets and thus guarantee the capacity of use according to European demand and not that of a single country, we will have a European energy cost equal for everyone or as close to the price for everyone, a reduction in costs, a possibility to better utilize our assets,” concludes Murano.
