(Quotes and added information about the Italian Prime Minister) Written by Angelo Amanti and Francesca Landini
MILAN (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said during a visit with the head of the Italian energy group Eni that the gas deposits discovered off Mozambique represent a great opportunity for the development of the African country.
Speaking after a meeting with Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi, Meloni said the public group Eni is the best example of economic cooperation between Italy and Mozambique.
“We agree with the President of Mozambique that the deposits discovered off the northern coast of Mozambique represent a great opportunity for the development of this country and the strengthening of our relations,” Mr. Meloni said.
The gas field located in the Rovuma basin off the coast of Mozambique, called the Coral field, is estimated to contain 500 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
Eni is the operator of the Coral South floating LNG project, which turned the impoverished country into a global LNG producer and exporter starting in November.
The Italian group owns more than two-thirds of the project, along with Exxon Mobil and the Chinese company CNBC. Portuguese energy company Galp GALP.LS and Korean gas company. The Mozambican national oil company ENH are minority partners with 10% each.
Eni hopes to reach a final investment decision on a second floating LNG project to exploit the Coral field by the end of June next year, two sources directly involved in the project told Reuters this week.
Meloni also said on Friday that 70% of Italy’s climate fund, or about 3 billion euros ($3.16 billion), will be allocated to Africa.
“Europe has an energy supply problem, while Africa is potentially a huge energy producer. If we bring these two things together, we can build a different future for cooperation between our two continents in the field of energy, but also in the field of raw materials,” the Prime Minister declared.
Meloni said that Italy will host an Italy-Africa conference early next year, adding that the government will present the new cooperation strategy for the continent during the conference.
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