Rome, April 21, 2022 – The energy mission of the Italian government in Africa. After signing yesterday Angola of the joint venture for the production of raw materials (oil, natural gas and liquefied natural gas) and for the implementation of strategies for the exploitation of renewable energies, today in Congo the minister of foreign affairs Luigi Di Maio and the economic transition Roberto Cingolaniwith the presence of the CEO of Eni Claudio Descalzisigned an agreement to increase the production and export of gas.
There Italy’s strategy always find greater independence from Russian gas therefore, it proceeds with a new signing of a letter of intent aimed at strengthening energy cooperation between Rome and Brazzaville. Among the news of the day too agreement between the Congolese Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Eni which from 2023 onwards will see the extraction of LNGa liquefied natural gas. The goal is to obtain a total operational capacity of more than 3 million tons/year (more than 4.5 billion cubic meters/year).
The energy agreement signed in Congowhich also arrived thanks to the relationships that Eni has built in about 70 years of presence in Africa, is a an important step in the attempt to make Italy independent of Gazprom’s supplies, even before a single position was found in Europe on the payment of supplies. Last year, the Russian energy giant secured more than 29 billion cubic meters of methane. The gas that should arrive from Congo from 2023 is of the LNG type, a liquefied natural gas that will have to be treated by the gasification terminals present in our country. There are currently 3.
The words of Di Maio, Cingolani and Descalzi
“With this signature – Di Maio said – a very important mission for the Italian government in this region is concluded. Russian aggression has led Italy to diversify its sources. Now the priority objective is to reduce our dependence on Russian gas. agreements we intend to mitigate energy costs for families. In this sense, there is already an energy security plan”.
Cingolani, on the other hand, spoke of “a great strengthening of cooperation in favor of the ecological transition, also thanks to the great work carried out by Eni in recent years: there is a program of large investments in Congo”. Descalzi, on the other hand, focused on transforming Congo into “a laboratory of future energies with Italian technology. That is why it is an important moment for both countries and also for our society”.