Gas does now contribute 35 % to power generation , but rock-bottom prices and a sniffiness about gas as oil 's poor relation mean that exploiting its bounty ( saudi arabia apparently has the world 's fifth-largest gas reserves ) has proven hard .
In a challenge to anglo-saxon sniffiness about tax-shy southerners , the british press even carried news of civic sacrifice from italy , where the chairman of ferrari , a carmaker , said those earning several million euros a year should pay a supertax .
