Italian energy giant Eni has warned that its 104,000-barrel-per-day Taranto refinery could be forced to shut down as protests by steelworkers disrupt fuel deliveries across southern Italy, leaving hundreds of filling stations without adequate supplies.

The company said Thursday that demonstrations by workers from the troubled former Ilva steelworks, which began Monday, continue to block logistical access to the refinery.

Although refining operations remain normal, Eni warned that shortages of technical gases and chemicals essential to production could eventually force a controlled shutdown.

The disruption is already having significant consequences for regional fuel supplies.

More than 150 of approximately 300 Enilive filling stations in Apulia have run out of fuel, while shortages have been declared at Bari and Brindisi airports. Deliveries to emergency services, public transportation operators and railway companies are also being affected.

The Taranto refinery is a critical fuel supply hub for southern Italy, serving Apulia, Basilicata and Calabria. According to Eni, the facility has a refining capacity of 104,000 barrels per day and produces diesel, gasoline, jet fuel and other petroleum products.

The plant normally handles approximately 260 fuel tanker trucks daily, making prolonged disruptions particularly damaging to regional distribution networks.

The protests stem from uncertainty surrounding the future of the former Ilva steelworks, one of Europe’s largest industrial facilities, which has faced years of financial, environmental and operational difficulties.

Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported that local public transportation services have already been affected by fuel shortages.

The threatened shutdown comes as global refined-product markets remain under pressure from disruptions to Middle Eastern and Russian refining capacity.

Any prolonged outage at Taranto could further tighten regional diesel and jet fuel supplies at a time when European fuel markets are already struggling with elevated prices

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