As a member of the European Union and the International Energy Agency (IEA), Italy has the obligation to maintain oil product stocks to ensure supplies in case of a national or international crisis, in accordance with Directive UE 2009/119/CE that provides the member states’ obligation to maintain oil product stocks to ensure supplies in case of a national or international crisis.
Legislative Decree no. 249 dated 31 December 2012 introduced the new procedures to maintain and manage the petroleum emergency stocks and provided for the creation of the Organismo Centrale di Stoccaggio Italiano (OCSIT), whose activities and functions have been entrusted to Acquirente Unico S.p.A., under the surveillance of the Ministry of Economic Development.