OREANDA-NEWS  As part of the work to replace gas supplies from Russia, Italian Eni has reached an agreement with the Libyan NOC on the production of 8.7 billion cubic meters of gas per year on the shelf of the North African country, part of which will be transported to Europe. The head of the NOC, Farhat Bengdara, on the air of the Al-Masar TV channel indicated that the parties would sign the relevant agreement on January 28.

According to him, the fields were discovered 15 years ago, and it was previously assumed that gas supplies from it would begin in 2017-2018, the armed conflict on the territory of the country did not allow to start work earlier.

Eni and NOC are already cooperating in a joint venture that produces gas in Libya at the Wafa and Bahr-Essalam fields. Fuel goes to Italy through the Green Stream pipeline with a capacity of eight billion cubic meters per year. But the route is less than half full, in 2021 pumping along it amounted to 3.2 billion cubic meters.

Italy is actively looking for alternative sources of gas, since before the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, Russian fuel accounted for 40 percent of imports. The authorities of the republic intend to completely abandon it by 2025. For this purpose, Rome is increasing purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG), increasing supplies from Azerbaijan and strengthening cooperation with African countries.