Italy Energy Giant Signs $8B Gas Deal With Libya

Facts

• Italian energy company Eni and Libya’s National Oil Corporation signed an $8B gas production deal in the presence of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during her visit to Tripoli, Libya. The agreement seeks to boost Libya's gas output through new offshore fields.
• The Italian delegation met with officials from the Tripoli-based government on Saturday to discuss energy and migration, both of which are top priorities for Italy and the EU. The signing of a gas deal between Libya and Italy is the largest single investment in Libya's energy sector in more than twenty years.
• European governments have been racing to find alternatives to Russian gas since the Ukraine War — sending prices skyrocketing and triggering expensive state subsidies.
• The project will start in 2026 and will also include a carbon capture and storage facility. Eni holds an 80% share of Libya's gas production.
• Libya is rich in petroleum resources and is located on top of Africa's largest proven oil reserves. Since Moammar Gadhafi was toppled in 2011, multiple foreign powers and militias have been fighting for control over oil resources, infrastructure, and revenues.
• Italy is also looking to diversify its energy supplies from nations including Egypt, Congo, and Mozambique.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Euronews, France24, Ahram online, and Libyaherald.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Pressunited. As part of a plan to wean itself off Russian gas, Rome is pushing for further expansion of cooperation with North African countries. This is a vital matter of energy security. If everything goes as planned, Italy will be able to phase out up to 80% of Russian gas in 2023, and by winter 2024-25, Italy will completely end its dependence on Russian gas.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Washington Post. Italy's investment in oil projects in Africa is hypocritical. In Nov. 2021, Italy was among twenty countries at the COP climate conference in Scotland to agree to halt public financing for overseas fossil fuel projects and invest in green power instead. With the EU now trying to move away from its dependence on Russian gas Rome is investing heavily in gas projects all over the African continent, in ventures that weren't economically viable before the conflict in Ukraine. This will likely be far less cost-effective than the consistent dependability of Russian petroleum.