LNG News Editor:
Discussions have taken place in the Algerian capital Algiers between the Chief Executive of Italian oil and gas company, Claudio Descalzi and Algeria’s Prime Minister Aymen Benabderrahmane, the country's Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab and Algerian energy company Sonatrach's CEO Toufik Hakkar.
“The meetings are part of the initiatives to strengthen the partnership between Sonatrach and Eni,” said the Milan-based company.
Main issue
Eni said the main issues addressed were the production of natural gas in LNG exporter Algeria and gas exports through the Trans-Mediterranean Pipeline.
The Trans-Med Pipeline linking Algeria and Tunisia to Sicily and then onwards to the Italian mainland could be a source of increase gas supplies for the European Union to offset any reductions in flows from Russia.
“The historic partnership between Sonatrach and Eni is already working to define further opportunities for supplying gas to Italy,” explained Eni.
“The parties discussed the issue of gas supply and reviewed the short- and medium-term initiatives underway to increase supplies through the TransMed/Enrico Mattei gas pipeline,” added Eni.
The name Enrico Mattei attached to the TransMed link is in honour of an Italian public administrator who after World War II restructured Italian energy assets and founded Eni to run them.
“The meetings were an opportunity to confirm the will to accelerate the development of new oil and gas projects in the area of the Berkine South contract, which entered into force on 6 March,” added Eni.
The project includes the fast-track construction of a new oil and gas development hub in the region by leveraging synergies with the existing MLE-CAFC assets (Block 405b).
Eni’s and Sonatrach said their commitment was based on the shared strategy of an accelerated time to market and on the availability and capacity of the Sonatrach group contracting companies which will carry out the work.
“The planned activities will allow a significant increase in national production already this year, with the first production expected in July, just three months after the agreement entering into force,” they added.
Eni agreed in 2021 to sell a minority stake in two pipelines involved in transporting natural gas from Algeria to Italy for €385 million ($435M) to Italian LNG terminal and gas grid operator Snam.
The transaction came just after Algeria’s shutdown at the end of October 2021 of the Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline from the Hassi R'mel gas field through Morocco to Cordoba in Spain, one of two pipelines from Algeria to Spain.
