Eni clinches long-term LNG deal with QatarEnergy to strengthen Italy’s energy security

Qatar’s state-owned oil and gas company QatarEnergy and Italian energy major Eni have signed a long-term agreement for the supply of LNG from Qatar to Italy.

Under the 27-year sale and purchase agreement (SPA), up to one million tons per annum (mtpa) of LNG will be delivered to the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Italia located in the port of Piombiono, in Italy’s Tuscany region. starting in 2026.

The LNG will be sourced from the joint venture between QatarEnergy and Eni in the North Field East (NFE) expansion project. Eni is a partner in the 32 mtpa NFE expansion project with a 3.125% share.

Eni noted that the participation in the NFE project and the LNG contract are in line with its transition strategy, which aims to progressively increase the role of gas in the upstream production, reaching 60% by 2030, and increasing the contribution of equity LNG, leveraging integration between upstream and gas marketing activities.

According to the company, the LNG supply contract will contribute to Italy’s security of supply through the diversification of its supply sources.

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said: “Today, we are taking another important step in strengthening our partnership with Eni that will foster our mutual cooperation for many years to come. Our partnership with Eni has borne fruitful results including LNG deliveries through the Fluxys LNG terminal in Belgium’s Zeebrugge port and upstream exploration projects in various locations around the world. This agreement further builds on Eni’s first entry in the upstream sector in the State of Qatar through our partnership in the historic North Field East expansion project.”

“Together, we will continue to demonstrate commitment to the European markets in general, and to the Italian market in particular. Since 2009, Qatari LNG has been arriving at the Adriatic LNG terminal in the northern Adriatic to meet more than 10% of Italy’s natural gas requirements.”

QatarEnergy recently signed similar agreements with TotalEnergies and Shell to bolster energy security in France and the Netherlands and deliver LNG to these European countries from its North Field South (NFS) and NFE projects.

Together, the NFS and the NFE form what is said to be the industry’s largest-ever LNG project – the North Field Expansion project which officially kicked off on October 3, 2023, when Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar, laid the foundation stone. The project is expected to raise the Persian Gulf state’s LNG production capacity from the current 77 mtpa to 126 mtpa by 2026.