00:00Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has advocated for enhanced energy cooperation with Algeria during an official visit to Algiers, aiming
00:07to secure gas supplies for Italy and the wider European Union.
00:11The North African nation already provides 30% of Italy's natural gas, primarily via the Transmed subsea pipeline.
00:18To expand this, Meloni wants national energy giants Eni and Sonatrash to collaborate on shale gas extraction and new offshore
00:26exploration projects.
00:27Italy currently generates over 40% of its electricity from natural gas.
00:32The government is racing to replace lost supplies from Qatar, which halted production following repeated Iranian attacks on its major
00:39LNG sites.
00:40While exports note Algeria has some capacity to increase shipments, it cannot fully replace the shortfall from Qatar alone.
00:48However, domestic gas demand in Italy has decreased by 19% since 2021, potentially easing the immediate pressure on the
00:56national grid.
00:57Meloni warned that the ongoing war in Iran continues to disrupt global energy markets, cautioning that a prolonged conflict could
01:03have devastating economic and social consequences for vulnerable countries across Africa.
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