The head of the Italian government is seeking to get his country out of its dependence on Russian gas.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi will travel to Algiers on Monday, where he will meet President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the Italian government announced on Saturday, which wants to get out of its dependence on Russian gas, thanks in particular to Algeria.
Mario Draghi will be received at 2:30 p.m. for talks at the presidential palace with Mr. Tebboune, who will then receive him in the evening for a dinner.
The Italian Prime Minister was preceded on February 28 in Algiers by his Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, who had discussed with his counterpart an increase in gas supplies from this North African country to compensate for a possible decline on the Russian side.
“The Italian government is committed to increasing energy supplies, particularly gas, from various international partners”, including Algeria, “which has always been a reliable supplier”, underlined the minister at the time.
Algeria is Italy’s second gas supplier, behind Russia.
One of the countries most dependent on Russian gas
The Algerian public hydrocarbon giant Sonatrach declared at the end of February that it was ready to supply more gas to Europe, notably by transporting it via the Transmed gas pipeline linking Algeria to Italy.
Sonatrach “has unused capacity on the Transmed gas pipeline”, which could be used to “increase supplies to the European market”, assured its CEO, Toufik Hakkar. Europe is the “natural market of choice” for Algeria, which currently contributes 11% to its gas imports, he underlined.
Mr. Di Maio was accompanied by a delegation including, in particular, Claudio Descalzi, CEO of the Italian hydrocarbons giant Eni, which is very present in Algeria where it is a partner of Sonatrach.
Italy, which imports about 95% of the gas it consumes, is one of the European countries most dependent on Russian gas.
About 45% of the gas imported by the peninsula comes from Russia. Besides Algeria, the peninsula could increase its gas deliveries from Azerbaijan, Tunisia, and Libya, according to the government.
