After Algeria and Egypt, Italy also signed an agreement with Angola for the supply of gas. With this, the southern European country wants to further reduce its dependence on Russian gas. According to Energy Minister Roberto Cingolani, in a year and a half, Italy could be far from the need for Russian gas.
At the moment, Italy still gets about 40 percent of its gas needs from Russia. Algeria also accounts for a large share of Italy’s total gas needs. This country will rapidly increase its shipments, which is possible because the pipeline through the Mediterranean has additional capacity. Additional shipments from Egypt are liquefied natural gas (LNG).
In Angola it is also about LNG. This country could supply Italy with 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually, insiders tell Bloomberg News. Cingulani and his foreign affairs colleague Luigi Di Maio are scheduled to travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a deal will be struck on 5 billion cubic meters of gas annually. The trip may then continue to Mozambique. Africa is an interesting new source for Italy because the large oil and gas group Eni is already active in many countries.
Since many countries want to get rid of Russian gas, global demand for liquefied natural gas has risen sharply. Thus, major suppliers are charging up to three-quarters more gas on ten-year contracts than they did last year. Contracts are still much cheaper than buying individual contracts, but the difference is dwindling.
Unlimited free access to Showbytes? And that can!
Sign in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.
