Europe is looking to Africa for its energy needs as countries seek to cut their reliance on Russian imports.
Italy, the third-largest European Union economy, has pushed ahead in pursuing deals, with energy supermajor Eni signing an agreement on Wednesday with Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company to promote gas exports to Europe.
The Italian company said in a press release that the Prime Minister of Italy visited Algeria and signed an agreement to buy more natural gas from the Algerian state energy firm. That is equivalent to 12% of Italy's gas consumption in 2021.
Algeria supplies gas to Europe via a single line to Italy. Two other pipes are connected to Spain.
Italy's deals came on the back of a meeting among European ambassadors and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company that sought to strengthen partnership in the energy sector.
According to people familiar with the matter, Draghi is going to travel to central and southern Africa this week with potential deals. Italy would be able to replace half of its natural-gas supply from Russia as early as 2023, according to a report.
The EU buys a lot of Russian energy. The trade bloc banned Russian coal in April. Europe remains highly reliant on piped gas from the country and it is considering an oil embargo.
In an interview published Sunday, Draghi said that Europe can wean itself off of Russian energy imports in less than a month.
He told the outlet that they no longer want to depend on Russian gas because economic dependence must not become political subjugation.
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