Meloni met President Abdelmadjid Tebboune as Rome faces prolonged disruptions in liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from Qatar, which previously covered around 10% of Italy’s annual gas consumption.
“We have decided to strengthen our cooperation — which involves our champions Eni and Sonatrach — also working on new fronts such as shale gas and offshore exploration. This will make it possible, in the long term, to strengthen the flow of gas from Algeria to Italy,” Meloni said.
Meloni and Tebboune did not provide details on when and how gas supplies to Italy may be increased.
“I wanted to underline Algeria’s willingness to honour its commitments with Italy in the challenges we face regarding supplies… for oil and gas markets,” Tebboune said at a joint press briefing.
Last week Italy’s energy minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said Rome was talking to several countries, including Algeria, to secure additional gas supplies that would make up for the lost deliveries from Qatar.
Last year Algeria supplied around 20 billion cubic metres of gas to Italy — about 30% of the country’s annual consumption — with roughly half delivered under contracts between Sonatrach and Italy’s Eni.
Reporting by Francesca Landini in Milan and Angelo Amante in Rome, editing by Alvise Armellini – Reuters
This article was originally posted at sweetcrudereports.com
Be the first to comment