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Italian government: On "Tour del gas" in Africa
Photo:
JULIO PACHECO NTELA v AFP
Within the EU, no country is as dependent on Russia's gas as Germany and Italy.
But while people in this country have been looking for alternatives in countries like Norway, Qatar or the Netherlands, Rome has long been looking to Africa.
In a bid to break away from Russian gas, Italy has now struck further deals for more liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies with Angola and the Republic of Congo.
From 2023, 4.5 billion cubic meters of LNG will come from the Republic of Congo, according to the Italian energy supplier Eni.
The head of the partially state-owned energy company traveled to the African countries together with Italy's Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and the Minister for Ecological Conversion, Roberto Cingolani.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi had to stay in Rome because of a positive corona test.
The day before, the delegation had also reached another "important agreement" for more gas supplies with Angola, south of the Republic of Congo on the African west coast, as Di Maio wrote on Facebook.
The Italian government had already negotiated more gas supplies with North African Algeria and the Gulf state of Qatar before its "Tour del gas," as the media called the trip.
Rome wants to be independent of Russian gas in 18 months
Like Germany, Italy, with its almost 60 million inhabitants, imports a large part of its gas from Russia – specifically around 45 percent.
Because of the war in Ukraine, the country feels obliged to turn away from Russian gas supplies for moral reasons.
"In my opinion, we must soon stop Russian gas supplies for ethical reasons," Italian minister for the ecological transition, Roberto Cingolani, told the newspaper "La Stampa".
Italy was "moving at great speed" in diversifying its sources of supply, he continued.
Unlike the German government, the Italian government is also prepared to impose an embargo on gas from Russia because of the war of aggression in Ukraine – as long as the EU approves it.
In Brussels, however, this step failed due to resistance from Germany and Austria.
It is also unclear what moral problems Italy sees in relation to deliveries from Africa.
In any case, the government only recently agreed on additional gas deliveries with Algeria, from where the country is already supplied.
It is "clear that all of Europe is heavily dependent on Russia for gas," said Cingolani, speaking of a "serious geopolitical mistake of the past 20 years."
The minister estimates that Italy could become independent of Russian gas within 18 months.
A period of “24 to 30 months” was previously mentioned.
Apr/dpa/AFP
