Foreign minister Luigi Di Maio has welcomed a "crucial" agreement between Italian major Eni and the Republic of Congo to boost gas exports and develop an LNG project as Italy hastens to cut its reliance on Russian energy imports amid the war in Ukraine.
"Today we signed an other crucial accord with the Republic of Congo to increase gas supplies to our country," Di Maio wrote on Facebook.
"Another result achieved after the yesterday's in Angola and that in Algeria (last week). Italy will keep reacting swiftly to the energy crisis and moving to diversify its energy sources," the post went on.
"Safeguarding Italian businesses and families is a primary objective and we are working towards it every day....there is no time to lose," Di Maio wrote.
Under the accord signed in Brazzaville, Congo will ramp up its gas production and develop an LNG project with a capacity of over 4.5 billion cubic metres that will be operational by 2023, according to an ENI statement.
Thursday's accord was signed by ENI chief executive Claudio Descalzi and hydrocarbons minister Jean Richard Itoua, in the presence of Di Maio, his Congolese counterpart Jean-Claude Gakosso and Italy's ecological transition minister Roberto Cingolani, the statement said.
Congo and ENI have also agreed to hammer out joint initiatives to promote decarbonisation and the sustainable energy transition in the country, including renewable energy sources, according to ENI's statement.
Italy will increase its gas purchases and foster joint projects that will include renewables and liquefied natural gas under Wednesday's deal with Angola, which took place during a visit to the country by Di Maio, Cingolani and Descalzi.
Eni inked a major deal with Algeria on 11 April under which it will provide an extra 9 billion cubic metres of gas per year by 2023-2024 and potentially replace Russia as Italy's top supplier.
As part of its rush to lower its dependency on Russian gas (currently 40% of imports), Italy has also reached a deal with Egypt to increase LNG flows to Italy.
