Search for gas: Italy closes deal with Algerians | Abroad

Italian Prime Minister Draghi signed an agreement with the President of Algeria Ambelmadjid Tebboune and the Algerian gas company Sonatrach in Algiers on Monday with an impressive Italian delegation, including two ministers and the CEO of the Italian gas company ENI. Italy will import nine billion cubic meters of additional gas from the country under the agreement. A general agreement for energy cooperation between the two countries was also signed.

Last year, Sonatrach had already exported 21 billion cubic meters of gas from Algeria to Italy through the TransMed pipeline that runs to Mazara del Vallo in Sicily. This made Algeria the second country from which Italy imported gas. Until now, Russia has always been the largest gas supplier to Italy. Nearly 40 percent of the gas in Italy came from Russia.

Last Thursday, Prime Minister Draghi had received Prime Minister Rutte in Rome. At the time, both expressed the wish to reduce dependence on gas from Russia as much as possible.

Draghi had stated immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine that he wanted to speed up the search for alternative gas suppliers so that families and companies in need could be helped.

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