Italy seeks to become an “energy bridge” between Africa and Europe after an $8 billion gas deal was signed with Libya yesterday, said Paolo Trancassini, an Italian member of parliament.
The deal, signed in between Italian energy giant Eni and Libya’s state-run National Oil Corporation (NOC), involves developing two offshore fields in Block NC-41, north of Libya, and ENI said they would start pumping gas in 2026, and estimated reaching 750 million cubic feet per day.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who attended the signing ceremony during her visit to Libyan capital Tripoli, called the deal “significant and historic” and said it will help Europe securing energy sources.
For Trancassini, Meloni’s mission to Libya and the Eni-NOC deal “is another important element for a strategic objective of our government: Italy will be the energy bridge between Africa and Europe.”
“Precisely for this reason, important agreements were signed on energy and on the fight against illegal immigration,” elaborated the Italian MP who also acts the deputy chairman of the right-wing ruling party the Brothers of Italy.
“This is proof that Italy is returning to be a protagonist in the Mediterranean and that the political stability of the North African country is a priority for our nation and for all of Europe,” he added.