Italy’s Eni signs $8b Libya gas deal

and Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) signed an $8 billion gas production deal on Saturday aimed at boosting energy supplies to Europe despite the insecurity and political chaos in the North African country. The deal, signed during a visit to Tripoli by Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, aims to increase gas output for the Libyan domestic market as well as exports, through the development of two offshore gas fields. Output will begin in 2026 and reach a plateau of 750 million cubic feet per day, Eni said in a statement.

“This agreement will enable important investments in Libya’s energy sector, contributing to local development and job creation while strengthening Eni’s role as a leading operator in the country,” said its Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi. Meloni met Libya’s Prime Minister Abdulhamid alDbeibah, head of the internationally recognised Government of National Unity (GNU), in Tripoli for talks that also focused on migration across the Mediterranean. At a joint news conference with Descalzi, the NOC chief, Farhat Bengdara, said the gas deal had a duration of 25 years and called it the most important new investment in Libya’s energy sector for a quarter of a century.

European countries have increasingly sought to replace Russian gas with energy supplies from North Africa and elsewhere over the past year because of the war in Ukraine. Italy has already taken a lead in sourcing gas from Algeria, building a new strategic partnership there that includes investment to help state energy company Sonatrach reverse years of declining output. However, the agreements struck may be undermined by Libya’s internal conflict, which has divided the country between rival factions