Algeria to become key supplier of gas to Italy

Algiers, Algeria | Xinhua | Gas supplies from Algeria to Italy will increase in the coming years, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Monday, following his meeting with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in Algiers.

The gas deal was one in a series of agreements the two politicians agreed to sign during Draghi’s official visit, with new areas of cooperation encompassing infrastructure development, closer cooperation on criminal justice, the promotion of investment, the pharmaceutical industry, scientific research, and the protection of cultural heritage.

Algeria’s APS news agency already reported on Friday that the country was willing to boost gas supplies to Italy by 4 billion cubic meters this year.

Algeria is becoming an increasingly important supplier of gas to Italy as Rome seeks to gradually replace Russian gas supplies with more stable sources. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has sent fuel prices skyrocketing and threatened to cut Russian gas supplies to Europe.

Before the start of the conflict, Russia had been the largest supplier of gas to Italy.

Drahi earlier visited Algeria in April, shortly after the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while Tebboune visited Rome in May.