18th Apr 2016 05:51
ROME (Alliance News) - A referendum in Italy on limiting offshore drilling rights for oil and gas failed Sunday as the necessary 50% turnout threshold for its validation was not reached, preliminary results showed.
The outcome was a political victory for the government, which urged voters to abstain, and a blow to referendum backers, including environmental association and nearly all opposition parties, from right and left.
Voting took place from 7 am to 11 pm, but according to partial data from more than 5,000 out 8,000 polling booths, turnout stood at just over 31.2%, the Interior Ministry said on its website.
In Italy, referendums can be held to scrap pieces of legislation, but their outcome is valid only if more than 50% of eligible voters take part.
The vote was on whether energy companies should be able to keep extracting oil and gas from more than 40 platforms within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) of the coast until reserves run out, or stop once current licences expire over the 2018-34 period.
Backers of the referendum had argued that limiting fossil fuel extraction would have been a good idea because it poses an environmental hazard and covers only a tiny fraction of national energy needs.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had urged voters to boycott the poll and abstain, arguing that curbing drilling rights would threaten 11,000 energy industry jobs and increase Italy's dependency on energy imports from Arab countries and Russia.
Politically, the vote was seen as a trial run for another referendum due in mid-October, which will see Renzi square off against the same opposition parties over major constitutional reforms he has recently pushed through parliament.
Back in January, London-listed Rockhopper Exploration PLC said it was being forced to review its Ombrina Mare project offshore Italy after the country's parliament reintroduced restrictions on activity near the coast.
The Italian parliament approved propositions which included the reintroduction of restrictions on offshore oil and gas activity close to the coast, banning any exploration or production within 12 nautical miles of the coast.
Italy originally launched the restrictions back in 2010, but these were repealed in 2012 before being reinstated again officially from the start of 2016.
Rockhopper's Ombrina Mare project lies within 12 nautical miles off the coast of Italy and will therefore be affected by the restrictions, prompting the company to launch a full review of the project.
Copyright dpa
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