Italy energy imports to rise towards €60 billion in 2026, industry lobby says

ROME, June 10 (Reuters) - Italy will spend almost €60 billion this year to import energy, up €8-9 billion from 2025, the national fuel producers association UNEM said on Wednesday. The estimate is based on the expectation that the Iran war will end in the next few months.

• "Last year we had an energy bill of €48.7 billion, more than 7 billion less than in 2024, but this year our estimate is that it could rise to around €57–58 billion," UNEM president Gianni Murano said at the annual meeting of the association.

• UNEM said Italy's bill for oil imports could reach around €24 billion in 2026, 4.5 billion more than last year, assuming average Brent oil prices of $90 per barrel in 2026.

• The closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the Middle East crisis has sharply disrupted global oil flows, as roughly a fifth of the world's oil passed through the narrow waterway before the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

• Oil prices were steady on Wednesday - with Brent futures at around $91 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude at about $88 at 1020 GMT - as renewed U.S.-Iran hostilities muddied direction, though a forecast U.S. stock draw offered support.

(Reporting by Cristina Carlevaro and Francesca Landini, editing by Gavin Jones)