#Africa's #Oil & #Gas Comes to #Italy’s Rescue—Will the rest of #Europe be left out?

“Diversification is possible and feasible relatively quickly, shorter than we imagined just a month ago.”

- Mario Draghi, April 17, 2022, in an interview with Corriere della Sera

Italy currently gets about 40% of its gas from Russia, and Draghi has acted quickly to try to replace that supply with flows from elsewhere since President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February.

With Eni already present in more than a dozen countries in Africa, the continent is an attractive option for Italy.

The deals in Angola and the Republic of Congo could bring Italy an additional 1.5 billion cubic meters and 5 billion cubic meters a year, respectively, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.

The company last week signed a major deal with Algeria that will see the North African country provide an additional 9 billion cubic meters of gas a year by 2023-2024 -- and potentially become Italy’s top supplier.

Eni also struck an agreement with Egypt to increase flows of liquefied natural gas to Italy.

See the whole piece on Bloomberg here: Italy Snaps Up Angolan Gas After Deals for North African Supply