Financial Times FT.com

Dash for oil highlights fears of Italy's regions

By Guy Dinmore

Published: November 18 2008 02:00 | Last updated: November 18 2008 02:00

Empty deserts conceal the oil wealth of the Middle East, and frozen wastelands cover Russia's. Unfortunately for the inhabitants of Basilicata in southern Italy, Europe's largest onshore oilfield lies beneath forests, farmland and ancient communities.

Wolves, deer and the occasional bear wander through mountain ranges designated as a national park, where clattering oil rigs rise incongruously through tree-tops.

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