LESSONS LEARNED AFTER THE 2012 EMILIA EARTHQUAKES (ITALY) IN MATTER OF HYDROCARBON E&P AND GAS STORAGE MONITORING

After the seismic events occurred in Emilia (Italy) on May 20th and May 29th, 2012, the International Commission on Hydrocarbon Exploration and Seismicity in the Emilia Region (ICHESE) evaluated the possible links between E&P activities and the seismic activity in the area affected by the earthquakes. The Commission could not rule out the possibility of a link and emphasized the need of further analyses, in order to exclude the correlation of seismic events of May 2012 to waste-water injection activities performed at the Cavone field. The Ministry of Economic Development (MiSE), the Emilia-Romagna Region and the Operator with the patronage of Assominerariai carried out such analyses and found new elements against the possibility that operations could affect the seismic events. Furthermore, the Commission recommended developing new integrated monitoring systems for seismicity, ground deformations and pore pressures that were able to provide high-quality data in real time, in order to support the analysis of the possible link between the human activities and the detected seismicity. In our presentation, we describe the lessons learned after the 2012 seismicity with reference to the initiatives undertaken by MiSE to improve and optimize knowledge and management of E&P sector in a seismically active territory as Italy is