Italian Eni, Algerian Sonatrach to increase energy supply to Europe

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
23 Jan 23:40

Eni and Sonatrach will study ways to facilitate the transport of gas and will work on a new pipeline to carry hydrogen gas as well as develop the latter's capacity to produce LNG.

The logo of the Algerian Sonatrach group is pictured in Algiers, Friday, Feb.9, 2018 (AP Photo/Anis Belghoul)

Italian Eni and Algerian Sonatrach will work on joint projects to energy export capacity, the Italian group said on Monday, as Rome strives to become a bridge for African trade with Europe.

On her first visit to Algiers, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with the president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and the two energy companies signed new agreements.

Rome aims to act as an intermediary of energy trade between northern Europe and Africa in the upcoming years thus they aim to intensify their energy imports from Algeria which is one of the most oil-rich African nations.

Eni, a state-controlled company, would use this plan to capitalize on its long-standing experience in Algeria, where it has been active since 1981.

Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, traveled with PM Meloni, to meet his Sonatarch counterpart. At a joint press conference with Tebboune, Meloni stated, "Two agreements were signed between Eni and its Algerian counterpart, one to identify activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the other to achieve an increase in energy exports from Algeria to Italy and potentially from Algeria to Europe."

According to Meloni, Eni and Sonatrach will study ways to facilitate the transport of gas and will work on a new pipeline to carry hydrogen.

She also mentioned expanding Algeria's capacity to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) and laying an undersea electrical cable between the two states.

According to Tebboune, "There will be a special pipeline that will involve hydrogen and electricity... this is a very important project that will make Italy a distributor of these energies for the whole of Europe,"

After the second world war, Eni's founder Enrico Mattei established business ties with several north African countries.

As a new diplomatic initiative in Africa, Meloni aspires to mimic Mattei's business network in Africa through a new version of the "Mattei Plan" in which Algeria would play a crucial role.