Italy clinches gas deal with Algeria

By Trend

Italy clinched an agreement on Monday to ramp up gas imports from Algeria by around 40% in its first major deal to find alternative supplies, Trend reports citing Reuters.

In a visit to Algeria, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said agreements reached were a significant step in Italy's drive to cut its reliance on Russian gas.

"Others will follow," he told reporters in Algiers following a meeting with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

Italy, which sources about 40% of its gas imports from Russia, has been scrambling to diversify its energy supply mix.

Draghi has previously said while replacing 30-40% of supplies from Russia could be done immediately, it would be much harder to replace the rest.

In a statement, Italian energy group Eni (ENI.MI) said it had agreed with Algeria's Sonatrach to gradually raise flows in the Transmed pipeline starting this year and reach 9 bcm of extra gas per year by 2023-24.

Ecological Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani told Italian TV 3 bcm of that would come on line immediately.