CAIRO, 28 Jan: Italy\u2019s prime minister held talks in Libya on Saturday with officials from the country\u2019s west-based government focusing on energy and migration, top issues for Italy and the European Union. During the visit, the two countries\u2019 oil companies signed a gas deal worth $8 billion \u2014 the largest single investment in Libya\u2019s energy sector in more than two decades.
\nLibya is the second North African country that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, three months in office, visited this week. She is seeking to secure new supplies of natural gas to replace Russian energy amid Moscow\u2019s war on Ukraine. She previously visited Algeria, Italy\u2019s main supplier of natural gas, where she signed several memorandums.
\nMeloni landed at the Mitiga airport, the only functioning airport in Libya\u2019s capital, Tripoli, amid tight security, accompanied by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, her office said. She met with Abdel Hamid Dbeibah, who heads one of Libya\u2019s rival administrations, and was also to hold talks with Mohamed Younis Menfi, who chairs Libya\u2019s ceremonial presidential council.
\nAt a round-table with Dbeibah, Meloni repeated her remarks from Algeria, saying that while Italy wants to increase its profile in the region, it doesn\u2019t seek a \u201cpredatory\u201d role but wants to help African nations \u201cgrow and become richer.\u201d
\nDuring the visit, Claudio Descalzi, the CEO of Italy\u2019s state-run energy company, ENI, signed an $8 billion deal with Libya\u2019s National Oil Corporation to develop two Libyan offshore gas fields. NOC\u2019s chairman Farhat Bengdara also signed.
\nThe agreement involves developing two offshore fields in Block NC-41, north of Libya and ENI said they would start pumping gas in 2026, and estimated to reach 750 million cubic feet per day, the Italian firm said in a statement.
\nMeloni, who attended the signing ceremony, called the deal \u201csignificant and historic\u201d and said it will help Europe securing energy sources.
\n\u201cLibya is clearly for us a strategic economic partner,” Meloni said.
\nSaturday\u2019s deal is likely to deepen the rift between the rival Libyan administrations in the east and west, similar to previous oil and military deals between Tripoli and Ankara. It has already exposed fractions within the Dbeibah\u2019s government.
\nOil Minister Mohamed Aoun, who did not attend the signing, criticized the deal on a local TV, saying it was \u201cillegal\u201d and claiming that NOC did not consult with his ministry.
\nBengdara did not address Aoun\u2019s criticism during his conference but said those who reject the deal could challenge it in court.
\nENI has continued to operate in Libya despite ongoing security issues, producing gas mostly for the domestic market. Last year, Libya delivered just 2.63 billion cubic meters to Italy through the Greenstream pipeline \u2014 well below the annual levels of 8 billion cubic meters before Libya\u2019s decline in 2011.
\nInstability, increased domestic demand and underinvestment has hampered Libya\u2019s gas deliveries abroad, according to Matteo Villa of the Milan-based ISPI think tank. New deals \u201care important in terms of image,\u201d Villa said.
\nAlso, because of Moscow\u2019s war on Ukraine, Italy has moved to reduce dependence on Russian natural gas. Last year, Italy reduced imports by two-thirds, to 11 billion cubic meters.
\nMeloni is the top European official to visit oil-rich Libya since the country failed to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in December 2021. That prompted Libya\u2019s east-based parliament to appoint a rival government after Dbeibah refused to step down.
\nLibya has for most of the past decade been ruled by rival governments \u2014 one based in the country\u2019s east, and the other in Tripoli, in the west. The country descended into chaos following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising turned civil war that toppled and later killed longtime autocratic ruler Moammar Gadhafi. (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CAIRO, 28 Jan: Italy\u2019s prime minister held talks in Libya on Saturday with officials from the country\u2019s west-based government focusing on energy and migration, top issues for Italy and the European Union. During the visit, the two countries\u2019 oil companies signed a gas deal worth $8 billion \u2014 the largest single investment in Libya\u2019s energy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-209692","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209692\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}