Italian oil and gas company Eni has signed an agreement with the Algerian Sonatrach to allow Eni to increase the quantities of gas imported to Italy through the TransMed / Enrico Mattei pipeline.
The deal to increase the gas flows, under the umbrella of the long-term gas supply contract in place with Sonatrach, will take effect from the next autumn.
"This agreement will allow to exploit the pipeline's available transportation capacities to ensure greater supply flexibility, gradually providing increasing volumes of gas from 2022, up to 9 billion cubic meters per year in 2023-24," Eni said.
The President of Sonatrach, Toufik Hakkar, and the CEO of Eni, Claudio Descalzi signed the agreement in Algiers on Monday.
The signing took place during the visit of the Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi to the President of the Democratic Republic of Algeria, Abdelmajid Tebboune, which also included a wider letter of intent to strengthen cooperation in the energy field signed by the Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra and the Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio on behalf of their respective Governments, in the presence of the Algerian Prime Minister, Aymen Benabderrahmane, the Algerian Minister of Energy Mohamed Arkab, and the Italian Minister for Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani.
"The agreement between Eni and Sonatrach, whose foundations have been laid during the previous visit of Descalzi and the Italian Foreign Minister Di Maio to Algiers last February 28, was defined and signed in record time following intense negotiations between the top management of the two companies. The new gas volumes covered by the agreement are also the result of the close collaboration in the development of upstream gas projects, leveraging Eni’s distinctive fast track model, which is bringing a significant acceleration to the production potential of the Algerian fields," Eni said.
The CEO of Eni Descalzi said:"Today is a special day for the relations between Italy and Algeria, in particular for Eni and Sonatrach: thanks to the close the long-standing collaboration between the two companies, it was possible in a short time and with an enormous joint effort to sign this important agreement that further consolidates the partnership between the companies and strengthens the cooperation between our countries".
Eni has been present in Algeria since 1981, and has an equity production of 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the country.