Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi meets Algerian Prime Minister Aymen Benabderrahmane, Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab, and Sonatrach CEO Toufik Hakkar
The meetings are part of the initiatives to strengthen the partnership between Sonatrach and Eni. The main issues addressed were the production of natural gas and exports through the Transmed gas pipeline
Eni's CEO, Claudio Descalzi, met today in Algerian Prime Minister Aymen Benabderrahmane, the Minister of Energy, Mohamed Arkab, to take stock of the company's activities in the country, on future projects and to discuss issues linked to the current energy crisis, with respect to which the historic partnership with Sonatrach is already working to define further opportunities for supplying gas to Italy.
Claudio Descalzi was then received by the CEO of Sonatrach, Toufik Hakkar. During the meeting, the issues of gas supply were discussed and the short and medium-term initiatives underway to increase supplies through the TransMed / Enrico Mattei gas pipeline were reviewed.
The meeting was an opportunity to confirm the desire to accelerate the development of new oil and gas projects in the area of the “Berkine Sud” contract which entered into force on 6 March. The project involves the fast track construction of a new gas and oil development hub in the region through a synergy with the existing assets of MLE-CAFC (Block 405b) and sees a shared commitment of Eni and Sonatrach, based on the common strategy of a accelerated time to market and on the availability and capacity of the contracting companies of the Sonatrach group called to carry out the work. The planned activities will allow a significant increase in national production already in the current year, with the first productions expected in July, just three months after the agreement enters into force.
Finally, the joint commitment to accelerate the decarbonisation of activities by replacing gas with renewable energy sources was confirmed.
At the end of the meeting, Eni's CEO thanked Sonatrach for the constant support and the friendly and fruitful relationship: "Today's meeting is testimony to the commitment made by Sonatrach and Eni to strengthen their partnership in Algeria, in compliance with a shared strategy of accelerated development of projects and pursuing the decarbonisation objectives as part of our commitment to achieve carbon neutrality in the long term ”.
Eni has been present in Algeria since 1981 and with an equity production of 100 barrels of oil equivalent per day, Eni is the most important international company in the country.