What is in the agreement between Eni and Congo on gas
Eni has signed an agreement with Congo to increase gas production and export to Italy. All the details
Eni today signed a letter of intent with Congo to increase the production and export of natural gas.
WHO WAS AT THE SIGNATURE
The agreement was signed in Brazzaville, the capital of Congo, and bears the signature of Eni's CEO, Claudio Descalzi, and the Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons, Bruno Jean Richard Itoua. Also present were the Foreign Minister of Congo, Jean-Claude Gakosso, and the Italian Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Ecological Transition, respectively Luigi Di Maio and Roberto Cingolani.
WHAT THE AGREEMENT WITH THE CONGO PROVIDES FOR
The document provides – as Eni makes known in a press release – "the acceleration and increase" of gas production in Congo, first of all through a liquefied gas (LNG) project which should come into operation in 2023 with a capacity exceeding 3 million tons of gas per year (over 4.5 billion cubic meters). The gas produced in excess of the Congolese internal needs will be destined for export, in liquefied form.
RENEWABLE AND NOT ONLY
In addition to gas, Eni and the Republic of Congo have agreed on the production of energy from renewable sources, on the development of an agricultural chain for the production of raw materials for biorefining and on the use of CO2 capture and storage systems.
WHAT ENI DOES IN CONGO
Eni has been present in Congo since 1968 and in 2020 produced 18 million barrels of oil and condensates and 1.4 billion cubic meters of gas here. It supplies gas to CEC, the electricity company owned 80 per cent by the Congolese government and 20 per cent by Eni, which satisfies 70 per cent of national electricity needs.
THE AGREEMENT WITH ANGOLA
Immediately before the one with Congo, Eni signed an agreement on the enhancement of gas production and export to Italy also with Angola, as well as various initiatives related to the energy transition.
In Angola, Eni has a 13.6% stake in the Angola LNG consortium, which manages a liquefaction plant in the city of Soyo: it has a capacity of 5.2 million tons of liquefied gas per year. In 2020, Eni's share of production at the plant was approximately 23,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
According to Bloomberg sources, the agreements in Congo and Angola should guarantee Italy additional gas supplies for – respectively – 5 and 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT MAIO AND CINGOLANI
Leveraging on Eni's presence in many countries of the continent, Italy is focusing heavily on gas imports from Africa – Algeria , Egypt, Congo, Angola and soon Mozambique – to replace half of the fuel purchased from Russia by 2023: Moscow is currently the main supplier of both Italy and the European Union, with a share of around 40 per cent.
"With the aggression of Russia [against Ukraine, ed ] we need to diversify our sources of supply": this is, said Di Maio, "a priority objective for our government".
In an interview with La Stampa , Cingolani stated that "in my opinion, we should soon stop the supply of gas from Russia for an ethical question", given that the sale of hydrocarbons abroad represents the main source of income for the Kremlin . According to the minister, "within the second half of next year we will be able to truly begin to have almost total independence" from Russian energy. "We expect to reach around two thirds of what we need in the coming weeks already."
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/eni-congo/ on Thu, 21 Apr 2022 14:05:34 +0000.