Italy has embarked on a diplomatic offensive in Africa to get out of its dependence on Russian gas. While Moscow supplies the peninsula with 45% of its gas, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi intends to multiply his suppliers as quickly as possible.
“Russian aggression at the expense of Ukraine (…) has made the need to diversify Italian sources of supply more urgent than ever”, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said in Brazzaville, Congo. Italy concluded a gas supply agreement with this country on April 21, 2022. No details were given on the quantities to be produced and exported to Italy.
“Today we signed a crucial agreement with the Republic of Congo to increase the supply of gas to our country. Another result, after the agreement reached in Algeria and yesterday’s in Angola”
Luigi Di Maio, Italian Foreign MinisterSocial networks
The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luigi Di Maio, and that of Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolani, were on April 20, 2022 in Luanda, the Angolan capital, where they signed a letter of intent for the production and delivery of gas. “We have concluded an important agreement with Angola to increase our gas supplies (…). Italy’s commitment to diversify its sources is reinforced”said Luigi Di Maio at the end of this visit to Luanda.
“Diversification is possible and can be implemented relatively quickly, faster than we thought”, he estimated. In a horizon of one to two years specify the experts. Roberto Cingolani, for his part, praised an agreement that “boosts cooperation (…) in the renewable, biofuel, LNG sectors (Liquefied natural gas) and in technological and environmental training”.
The boss of the oil and gas giant Eni, Claudio Descalzi, accompanied the two ministers on their trip. Rome occasionally pushes its industrial champion and uses “the excellent relationships that Eni has forged during 69 years of presence in Africa, where it is the leader both in production and reserves”, underlines to AFP Davide Tabarelli, boss of the Nomisma Energia think tank.
A visit by the Italian delegation to Mozambique is also scheduled for May 2022. Eni has started producing gas in an offshore field, off the province of Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country.
In recent weeks, Italy has concluded other agreements with Algeria and Egypt. Algiers, which is currently its second supplier, already contributes around 30% of its consumption. According to Eni, the agreement signed with the Algerian national company, Sonatrach, will increase gas deliveries through the Transmed submarine gas pipeline “up to 9 billion additional m³ per year” by 2023-2024.
The agreement with Egypt could allow him to convey in Europe and Italy up to three billion m³ of liquefied natural gas this year, according to the Italian oil group. This diversification nevertheless has a significant cost, because in order to be able to import more LNG, Italy plans to buy or lease floating storage units.
However, Italy is ethically obliged to cease “soon” to buy Russian gas, the income from which is used to finance the war in Ukraine, said Roberto Cingolani in an interview published by the Italian daily La Stampa. The Italian government’s objective is to significantly reduce imports of Russian gas from next winter, and to do without it definitively within two years. A still uncertain bet.