Algiers, 2 March 2022 (TDI): The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Algeria, Ramtane Lamamra, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Mohamed Arkab, and the CEO of Sonatrach, Taoufik Hakkar; met the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luigi Di Maio, accompanied by the CEO of Eni, Claudio Descalzi.
During the meeting, Lamamra, Arkab, Hakkar, Di Maio, and Descalzi discussed several opportunities. According to them, those opportunities were to strengthen the strategic partnership between Italy and Algeria.
According to the Italian Minister, the focus of the strategic partnership is in the energy sector. Today, Algeria offered the European Union gas through the pipeline with Italy. The proposal offers relief to Italy amid tensions with Russia and the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Since the North Sea field nearly ran out, Europe started to buy gas from Russia. Currently, leaving aside the conflict mentioned beforehand, it is important to mention that the EU buys nearly 40% of its gas from Russia.
ALGERIA-ITALY DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS
Algeria declared its independence from France after a tough and violent war in 1962. Back to the time of the Roman Empire, the northern part of Algeria was part of it. That is why UNESCO declared as World Heritage two sites of Algeria, Djémila, and Tipasa.
Both countries consider their bilateral ties important for the stability of the region of the north of Africa. Italy supported Algeria during one of their civil wars and provided intelligence to the Government.
That intelligence was to fight against the Muslim fighters. The former Italian Foreign Affairs Minister, Matteo Renzi, described the relations with Algeria to be extremely important and strategic.
Both countries are members of the Union for the Mediterranean. Currently, Algeria has an embassy in the Italian capital, Rome. On the other side, Italy has an embassy in Algiers. Algeria and Italy are working to strengthen and deepen the tie between both, especially within economic and energy cooperations.
BACKGROUND OF SONATRACH
Sonatrach is an Algerian company established to exploit the hydrocarbons of the country. Their operations cover all stages of production like exploration, extraction, transport, and refinement.
The company expanded its operations to also include petrochemical and seawater desalination. It is the biggest company in Algeria and the 11th biggest of the oil consortium in the world.
Due to the strategic importance of oil and gas reserves in the world and the fact that Algeria has important reserves; therefore Sonatrach is an important company in politics. That is the reason why most of the Ministers of Energy of the country worked previously in Sonatrach.
BACKGROUND OF ENI
ENI is the Italian counterpart of Sonatrach. The operations of the company also include the exploration, production, transport, and commercialization of oil and also natural gas. Currently, ENI is present in 66 countries, and they are one of the main operators at a global level in the refining sector and the distribution of oil products.
According to ENI, they have five refineries throughout the country. Moreover, the refineries are in Sannazzaro, Livorno, Venice Taranto and Gela. Furthermore, in central and Eastern Europe, ENI is present through a network of service stations and direct sales.
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