Italy’s Meloni will sign an 8 billion dollar gas contract in Libya
TRIPOLI, 28 january (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said security in the North African country and political 8, which aims to increase energy supplies to Europe despite the chaos billion dollar gas to Tripoli on Saturday to seal the deal trip did.
Meloni is internationally known in Tripoli ahead of the signing of an energy deal for talks that also focus on migration across the Mediterranean. National The head of the Government of the Union (GNU) met with the Prime Minister of Libya, Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah.
Libya, which signed the agreement National Oil Corporation (NOC) chief Farhat Bengdara and Italy’s Eni ( ENI.MI ) chief Claudio Descalzi have focused on gas development, as well as solar energy and carbon sequestration. billion dollars they said they would invest.
Europe countries over the past year due to the war in Ukraine Russia gas with energy supplies from North Africa and elsewhere substitute trying to do.
Italy already from Algeria gas is taking the lead in buying and forming a new strategic partnership there, including an investment to help state energy company Sonatrach cut output.
Bengdara, 25 years gas said the deal would lead to 800 million cubic feet of production per day, calling it the most significant new investment in Libya’s energy sector in a quarter of a century.
However, the accords reached in Tripoli could be undermined by Libya’s internal conflict, which has seen the country fight for control of the government and fight against each other. political divided between rival groups that disputed claims to legitimacy.
Underscoring the uncertainty, Dbeibah’s own oil minister, Mohamed Oun, rejected any agreement the NOC could make with Italy, saying in a video on the ministry’s website that such agreements should be made by the ministry.
NOC head Bengdara last year his own interim government in 2021 UNIt was set by Dbeibah, established by a process supported by .
Located in the east parliament and factions that support him said early last year that the government was no longer legitimate, rejecting both Bengdara’s appointment and Tripoli’s deals with foreign powers.
Muammar Gaddafi, the autocrat who was overthrown in Libya in 2011 NATOThe chaos that arose after the uprising supported by Italy’s small for several years military mission is stationed in Libya.
Dbeibah and Meloni said they also discussed the issue of illegal migration from Libya to Italy. Rome will support Libya with new search and rescue ships, Dbeibah said.
Insecurity and lawlessness have made Libya a key but dangerous route for migrants seeking to reach Europe, often via the Italian island of Lampedusa. Every year, hundreds of migrants die trying to make the journey.
Meloni has made the fight against illegal migration high on the government’s agenda, and he raised the issue during recent visits to Algeria and Egypt. of Italy, which controlled much of the migration issue for Rome interior minister Matteo Piantedosi flew to Libya with Meloni.
Reporting by Ayman al-Warfali in Libya and Gavin Jones in Rome; Additional reporting by Ahmed Tolba and Enas Alaşray in Cairo; Writing by Angus McDowall; Edited by Clelia Oziel
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2023-01-28 20:17:39
Source – reuters
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