Italy Shuts the Door on New Oil Exploration

Itay will no longer grant concessions for oil and condensate exploration and production, a draft of a new government decree shows. The decree, seen by Reuters, specifies that the oil exploration and production ban will only apply to new concessions—not existing ones that have already secured government approval.  The ban is part of Italy’s green ambitions, which include abandoning coal-fired electricity by the end of 2025 in favor of gas-fired power plants. To that end, Italy approved four new gas-fired power plants in the past…