The Strategist

Italy and Algeria to sign agreement on new gas supplies



04/11/2022 - 10:37



Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi is traveling to Algeria with Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio to sign a deal on natural gas supplies from Algeria to the Apennines, according to the Italian foreign minister.



Patrick Gruban
Patrick Gruban
"I will be in Algeria tomorrow morning with President Draghi to sign an important gas agreement that will allow us to respond to possible Russian gas blackmail," Di Maio said at a press conference in Maddaloni.

"Unfortunately, we are late because we as a country should have had diversified (gas supplies) much earlier," the minister said, according to the Askanews news agency. "However, we have many partners and friends throughout the world."

Di Maio also mentioned that he had visited Qatar, Algeria, Mozambique, Congo, Angola, and Azerbaijan in the previous month, stating that "All of these countries have expressed an interest in increasing Italy's energy supplies". According to the foreign minister, this will help the country become more prosperous "more resistant to energy blackmailing".

Algeria is one of the top ten gas producers in the world. Sonatrach, Algeria's national oil supplier, produces, processes, transports, and sells hydrocarbons and is the continent's largest firm in this industry.

source: askanews.it