Draghi said:
- Our governments signed a declaration of intent on bilateral cooperation in the energy sector
- Italian and Algerian energy companies Eni and Sonatrach have agreed to increase gas supplies to Italy
- Algeria “is Italy’s 1st trading partner in Africa, with a bilateral exchange increasing fast
- Italy is ready to work with Algeria to develop renewable energy and green hydrogen in order to accelerate the energy transition and create opportunities for development and employment in both countries
Last year Italy received around 21 billion m3 of gas from Algeria, compared to around 29 billion from Russia, which currently supplies nearly 40 % of Italy’s needs.
Italy imports about 95 % of the gas it consumes, and is one of the European countries most dependent on Russian gas.
The Italian delegation in Algiers included Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi and Minister of Energy Transition Roberto Cingolani, who said last week that Italy is in talks with up to 7 countries, including Algeria, to secure gas supplies.
Italy has said it would support a ban on Russian gas over the Ukraine conflict if the EU is receptive to the idea.
In late February, Algeria’s state-owned hydrocarbon giant Sonatrach said it was ready to supply more gas to Europe, in particular by transporting it through the Trans-Mediterranean pipeline connecting Algeria to Sicily.
Sonatrach President Toufik Hakkar said the pipeline «still has unused capacity» that could be used to increase supplies to Europe.
