Page 11 - EurOil Week 38 2022

EurOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT EurOil

Sonatrach CEO: Algeria capable of delivering

25 bcm of gas to Italy in 2022

ALGERIA ALGERIA will be able to supply Italy with at he said. “The supply prospects of the Italian mar-
least 25bn cubic metres of natural gas this year, ket, but also of the markets connected to Italy, are
Algeria has already said Tewfik Hakkar, the CEO of the national oil promising,” Hakkar declared.
arranged to send company (NOC) Sonatrach, following reports He also expressed confidence in the Algerian
21.6 bcm of gas to that the North African country might not be able NOC’s ability to deliver all the gas it had prom-
Italy under long-term to uphold its commitment to increase deliveries. ised this year. “Sonatrach reassures its Italian
contracts and a further Hakkar told Bloomberg in an interview on customers of its ability to supply the contracted
3.6 bcm on the spot September 21 that Sonatrach was set to export volumes over the entire contract period,” Hakkar
market. 25.2 bcm of gas to Italy in 2022. This would rep- said.
resent a rise of almost 20.6% on the figure of Russia has been Italy’s largest source of gas in
20.9 bcm posted for 2021, according to data that the past, but deliveries have declined (and have
the news agency cited from Italy’s gas network become more erratic) since it invaded Ukraine
operator. in late February. Italy’s government and the Ital-
According to the Sonatrach CEO, Algeria has ian major Eni, which is partially state-owned,
already arranged to send 21.6 bcm of gas to Italy have therefore sought to secure more gas from
under long-term contracts and expects to pro- other major suppliers – including Algeria, which
vide another 3.6 bcm via spot-market transac- was the country’s second-largest source in 2021.
tions. Sonatrach may even be able to send more Officials in Algiers have responded positively
gas, he added, stating that he anticipated the to these Italian overtures and pledged in April
signing of additional supply contracts “during 2022 to boost the volume of gas delivered via
the coming weeks”. the TransMed pipeline. This link, which has a
This is good news for Italy and for other throughput capacity of 30 bcm per year, has been
European countries that can import gas via Italy, in operation for nearly 40 years. ™

INVESTMENT

US private equity firm in talks to buy

Russian-owned plant in Italy

ITALY A US equity firm is first in line vying to acquire a refining interests in its territory, including the
Lukoil-owned refinery in Sicily, as Italy’s govern- Schwedt oil refinery, under state trusteeship. An
Crossbridge Energy ment weighs up alternatives to outright national- energy law amendment in August would allow
Partners undertook isation of the plant, the Financial Times reported the government to nationalise the facility com-
due diligence on the on September 20. pletely if it deems the move necessary.
purchase for 12 days Crossbridge Energy Partners undertook Italy has been reluctant to consider nation-
this month. due diligence on the purchase of Lukoil’s ISAB alisation, with its Energy Transition Minister
refinery for 12 days this month, sources told the Roberto Cingolani stating last week that “the
newspaper. An affiliate of Postlane Capital Part- best thing would be a takeover by a non-Russian
ners, the company acquired an ageing refinery in international counterparty.” But Italy is in polit-
Denmark from Shell last year. ical deadlock, and the new government after the
The EU is set to introduce a full embargo country’s election on September 25 could pursue
on seaborne Russian oil exports in early a different policy.
December, meaning the Sicilian refinery will According to the FT, global oil trader Vitol
lose access to the shipments it relies on from has also discussed the plant’s future with Italian
Lukoil. If sold to non-Russian owners, the authorities, and Equinor expressed a prelimi-
plant would be able to obtain alternative sup- nary interest in taking it over. Businesses were
plies. With a throughput capacity of 320,000 reluctant to enter into direct talks with a Russian
barrels per day, the plant provides over a fifth counterparty because of the risk of reputational
of the fuel consumed in Italy. damage, the newspaper reported, and so they
As Italy seeks to avoid the nationalisation wanted the Italian government to act as an inter-
option, Germany this week placed all Rosneft’s mediary. ™

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