Italy has secured a deal to increase gas supplies from Angola, following high level talks between Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Luigi di Maio and Angolan President João Lourenço.
The Italian group has also struck a deal today to support gas production and exports in Congo Brazzaville.
Di Maio said Italy had reached an “important agreement” with Angola on April 20. The minister also visited Angola in early March with an eye on securing more gas supplies.
The deal with Angola will help Italy diversify its sources of energy, the minister said.
Di Maio visited the Angolan president with the Minister of Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi also spoke to Lourenço by telephone. The Italian PM was unable to come to Angola following a COVID-19 diagnosis.
According to a statement from the PM’s office, the two heads spoke of reinforcing “the bilateral partnership in all sectors of reciprocal interest, especially in the energy field”.
Eni has a 13.6% stake in Angola LNG, a 5.2 million tonne per year plant at Soyo, on the mouth of the Congo River. The plant exports around 70 cargoes per year at full capacity.
BP and TotalEnergies each have a 13.6% stake while Chevron has 36.5% and Sonangol 22.8%. Eni and BP are in the process of merging their Angolan operations into a new independent, Azule Energy.
The New Gas Consortium was launched in 2020 to provide additional supplies to the LNG plant, which was originally conceived to take non-associated gas alone. The new supplies are due to start up in 2023.
Congolese calls
Eni, in a statement today, noted the Italian politicians signed a letter of intent in Congo Brazzaville on increasing gas production and exports.
Di Maio and Cingolani observed, as did Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Claude Gakosso. Eni’s Descalzi signed the agreement with Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons Jean-Claude Gakosso.
The Italian group then went on to hold a meeting with Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso.
The deal focused on accelerating gas production in Congo Brazzaville. This focused on an LNG project, intended to start up in 2023. This would have capacity of 3 million tonnes per year.
Eni also agreed to back decarbonisation and energy transition plans in the West African state, including in biorefining and carbon capture.
Eni has set out a plan for an LNG export project on the Marine XII licence in Congo Brazzaville. The company signed a heads of agreement (HoA) with New Fortress Energy (NFE) in February for the latter’s Fast LNG technology.
African supplies
There has been speculation that the Italian delegation may also go to Mozambique.
Eni’s Coral Sul floating LNG (FLNG) project is due to start up in the second half of the year. However, BP has signed up as the sole offtaker from the Eni-led project so it is unclear what such a visit might achieve.
Di Maio and Descalzi were collecting gas agreements last week in North Africa. Algeria committed to providing another 9 billion cubic metres per year through the TransMed pipeline to Italy. Eni said it expects to export 3 bcm of LNG from Egypt’s Damietta plant this year.
It is not clear how Algeria will be able to increase its exports to Italy.
Updated at 12:13 with Eni’s statement on Congo Brazzaville.