Italian oil drilling referendum, 2016

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2016 Referendum ballot paper Italian referendum april 2016.png
2016 Referendum ballot paper

A referendum on oil and natural gas drilling was held in Italy on 17 April 2016. [1] The referendum was on the proposed repealing of a law that allows gas and oil drilling concessions extracting hydrocarbon within 12 nautical miles of the Italian coast to be prolonged until the exhaustion of the useful life of the fields.

Petroleum naturally occurring flammable liquid

Petroleum is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid found in geological formations beneath the Earth's surface. It is commonly refined into various types of fuels. Components of petroleum are separated using a technique called fractional distillation, i.e. separation of a liquid mixture into fractions differing in boiling point by means of distillation, typically using a fractionating column.

Natural gas fossil fuel

Natural gas is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, but commonly including varying amounts of other higher alkanes, and sometimes a small percentage of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, or helium. It is formed when layers of decomposing plant and animal matter are exposed to intense heat and pressure under the surface of the Earth over millions of years. The energy that the plants originally obtained from the sun is stored in the form of chemical bonds in the gas.

Oil well boring in the Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface

An oil well is a boring in the Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas may be termed a gas well.

Contents

Although 86% voted in favour of repealing the law, the turnout of 31% was below the majority threshold required to validate the result. [2]

A majority is the greater part, or more than half, of the total. It is a subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements.

It was the first referendum requested by at least five Regional Councils in the history of the Italian Republic: all 66 previous referendum questions since 1974 were called after the collection of signatures.

A regional council in Italy is the elected legislative assembly of a region of Italy. In Emilia-Romagna and Sicily, the legislative bodies are called Sicilian Regional Assembly and Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna respectively.

Background

Gas platform "Annamaria B" in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Ravenna (Emilia-Romagna) Platform Annamaria B.jpg
Gas platform "Annamaria B" in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Ravenna (Emilia-Romagna)

The search for hydrocarbon liquids and/or gases in the Italian sea is possible - with some restrictions for the coastal and environmental protection - only in certain "marine areas" identified by the Italian Parliament or by the Ministry of Economic Development. From 2013, new drilling is prohibited in the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the marine protected areas and in the waters within 12 nautical miles from the coast; however, the concessions approved before 2013 may continue until all of the resources are extracted.

Hydrocarbon organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon

In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups called hydrocarbyls. Because carbon has 4 electrons in its outermost shell carbon has exactly four bonds to make, and is only stable if all 4 of these bonds are used.

Italian Parliament legislature of Italy

The Italian Parliament is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. The Parliament is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861) and the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946). It is a bicameral legislature with 945 elected members and a small number of unelected members (parlamentari). It is composed of the Chamber of Deputies, with 630 members (deputati) elected on a national basis, and the Senate of the Republic, with 315 members (senatori) elected on a regional basis, plus a small number of senators for life, either appointed or ex officio. The two houses are independent from one another and never meet jointly except under circumstances specified by the Constitution.

Ministry of Economic Development (Italy)

The Ministry of Economic Development is a government ministry of the Italian Republic. It deals with production, economic activities, energy and mineral resources, telecommunications, consumers, tourism, internationalisation and business incentives. It is headed by the Italian Minister of Economic Development, who is currently assigned to Luigi Di Maio.

Italy authorized a total of 79 offshore platforms: 31 are located over 12 miles from and 48 within 12 miles.

Off-shore production of hydrocarbons in Italy

Oil platform "Vega" in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Pozzallo, Ragusa (Sicily) EDISON21.jpg
Oil platform "Vega" in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Pozzallo, Ragusa (Sicily)

Within 12 miles, 9 concessions are authorized (with 39 platforms) and their permits have expired and they have asked for an extension: if the "yes" vote wins in the referendum, the 9 expired concessions can not be extended. During 2015 those installations extracted about 622 million cubic meters of natural gas (equivalent to 9% of the national production and 1.1% of total consumption in 2014).

Under the 12 mile limit, there are 17 other concessions expiring between 2017 and 2027, which in 2015 extracted 1.21 billion cubic meters of gas (17.6% of national production and 2.1 % of national consumption in 2014) and 500,000 tons of oil (about 9.1% of national production and 0.8% of consumption in 2014). These concessions, in the event of a victory for 'yes' in the referendum, will not be extended after 2027.

Tonne metric unit of mass

The tonne, commonly referred to as the metric ton in the United States and Canada, is a non-SI metric unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms or one megagram. It is equivalent to approximately 2,204.6 pounds, 1.102 short tons (US) or 0.984 long tons (UK). Although not part of the SI, the tonne is accepted for use with SI units and prefixes by the International Committee for Weights and Measures.

Extraction of hydrocarbons in the offshore platforms located within 12 miles from the coast (2015) [3]
Marine zone
(Region)
Natural gas
()
Natural gasoline
(kg)
Petroleum
(kg)
A – Emilia-Romagna [A 1] 935,758,382140,4870
B – Marche and Abruzzo [A 2] 54,004,511436,237295,826,731
C – Sicily [A 3] 4,625,0210247,054,152
D – Calabria [A 4] 622,667,45500
Total production within 12 nautical miles (2015) [3] 1,518,932,151576,724542,880,883
Production percentage of the national consumption2.27%0.91%
National consumption (2015)~66,900,000,000 [4] 59,809,999,998 [5]

Referendum initiative

The referendum was proposed by several regional governments after the national government passed a law allowing drilling concessions to last until oilfields or gasfields are empty. [6] On 19 January 2016 the Constitutional Court approved the referendum. [6] On 12 February the Five Star Movement asked President Sergio Mattarella to delay the referendum until June to allow it to be held alongside local elections in order to raise turnout and save money. [7]

Position of main political parties

ChoicePartiesLeaders
Yes check.svg Yes Five Star Movement (Movimento Cinque Stelle, M5S) Beppe Grillo
Forward Italy (Forza Italia, FI) Silvio Berlusconi
Northern League (Lega Nord, LN) Matteo Salvini
Italian Left (Sinistra Italiana, SI) TBD
Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d'Italia, FdI) Giorgia Meloni
Italy of Values (Italia dei Valori, IdV) Ignazio Messina
Federation of the Greens (Federazione dei Verdi, FdV) Giobbe Covatta
Possible (Possibile) Giuseppe Civati
X mark.svg No Movement for Autonomies (Movimento per le Autonomie, MpA) Raffaele Lombardo
The Megaphone (Il Megafono) Rosario Crocetta
Abstention Democratic Party (Partito Democratico, PD) Matteo Renzi
New Centre-Right (Nuovo Centrodestra, NCD) Angelino Alfano
Civic Choice (Scelta Civica, SC) Enrico Zanetti
Union of the Centre (Unione di Centro, UdC) Pierferdinando Casini

Opinion polls

Date Polling firmYes check.svg
Yes
X mark.svg
No
Lead
28 Mar 2016 Piepoli 82.3 17.7 64.6
22 Mar 2016 Demopolis 74.0 26.0 48.0
15-16 Feb 2016 SWG 78.0 22.0 56.0
9-11 Dec 2015 Ixè 72.3 27.7 44.6

Results

ChoiceVotes%
Yes check.svgYes13,334,60785.85
X mark.svg No2,198,71514.15
Invalid/blank votes273,166
Total15,806,488100
Registered voters/turnout50,681,77231.19
Source: Ministry of the Interior
Popular vote
Yes check.svgY Yes
85.85%
X mark.svgN No
14.15%

Notes

  1. Concessions: A.C 1.AG, A.C 2.AS, A.C 3.AS, A.C 4.AS, A.C 5.AV, A.C 8.ME, A.C 17.AG, A.C 21.AG, A.C 26.EA, A.C 27.EA, A.C 29.EA, A.C 30.EA and CERVIA MARE.
  2. Concessions: B.C 1.LF, B.C 3.AS, B.C 5.AS, B.C 7.LF and B.C 8.LF.
  3. Concessions: C.C 1.AG, C.C 3.AG and C.C 6.AG.
  4. Concessions: D.C 1.AG and D.C 4.AG.

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