In the presence of the President of the Algerian Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune and the President of the Council Mario Draghi, the President of Sonatrach, Toufik Hakkar, and the Chief Executive Officer of Eni, Claudio Descalzi today signed an agreement in Algiers that will allow Eni to increase quantities of gas transported through the TransMed / Enrico Mattei gas pipeline, as part of the long-term gas supply contracts in place with Sonatrach starting from the next autumn months, confirming the strong cooperation between the countries.
This agreement will use the pipeline's available transportation capacities to ensure greater flexibility of energy supplies, gradually supplying increasing volumes of gas starting in 2022, up to 9 billion cubic meters of gas per year in 2023-24.
The signing took place during the visit of the President of the Italian Council of Ministers, Mario Draghi, to the President of the Algerian Democratic Republic, Abdelmajid Tebboune, following the signing of a broader letter of intent to strengthen cooperation in the energy field between 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 of Energy Transition.
The agreement between Eni and Sonatrach, the foundations of which had been laid during the previous visit to Algiers by Descalzi and the Italian Foreign Minister Di Maio last February 28, was defined and signed in record time following intense negotiations that have the top management of the two companies involved in the last month. The new volumes of gas covered by the agreement are also the result of the close collaboration in the development of gas upstream projects which, through the distinctive Eni fast track model, is bringing a significant acceleration to the production of the potential of the Algerian fields.
The CEO of Eni Descalzi thanked the Algerian institutions and Sonatrach and commented: "Today is a special day for relations between Italy and Algeria, in particular for Eni and Sonatrach: thanks to the close and long-standing collaboration between the two companies it was possible in such a short time and with an enormous joint effort to sign this important agreement which further consolidates the partnership between companies and strengthens cooperation between our countries ”.
Eni has been present in Algeria since 1981; with an equity production of 100.000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, it is the most important international company in the country. In addition to an ambitious exploration and development program, Eni is evaluating opportunities in the renewable, hydrogen, capture, use and storage of CO2 and biorefining sectors, in line with its commitment to achieve carbon neutrality. by 2050.