Italy Deprived Itself of 10BCM of Algerian Gas
Italian media blew up a loud scandal last week, about depriving the country of 10 billion cubic meters of Algerian gas annually, through the Galsi pipeline, which has never been launched, due to administrative decisions in Tuscany, which was controlled by the Democratic Party of the Left 11 years ago.
In this context, the newspaper “Il Giornale” reported that Tuscany officials belonging to the Democratic Party of the left refused in 2011 to sign licenses to transit the “Galsi” gas pipeline, which was supposed to transport 10 bcm annually of gas from Koudiat Draouche in the city of El Tarf (eastern Algeria), all the way to the island of Sardinia, and from there to the Italian peninsula in the Piombino region of the Tuscan coast.
According to the same source, the European Union revealed on September 1 that it had allocated 120 million euros at the time, as an aid to the pipeline as “a vital project that helps diversify the sources of gas supply to the European continent”, but Brussels quickly withdrew its financial aid for the project, due to the delay in issuing administrative authorization for the pipeline to pass through Tuscany, and the 120 million euros were returned to the European Union treasury.
Algeria and Italy had signed an agreement to complete a second gas pipeline linking the two countries in the summer of 2007 on the island of Sardinia, on the occasion of holding the first high-level bilateral summit, in the presence of the late former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and then Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
Algeria currently supplies Italy with gas through the “Trans-Med Enrico Mattei” pipeline, which passes through Tunisia to Mazara del Vallo, on the island of Sicily, where, according to Italian statistics, Algerian gas supplies far exceeded their Russian counterparts, reaching about 67 mcm/day.
In another context, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had a phone call with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, in which they exchanged views on bilateral relations, valuing the strength of these high and distinguished relations between the two friendly countries in many fields.
According to a statement by the Presidency of the Republic, the two presidents discussed ways to speed up the implementation of the treaties between the two countries leaders after they exchanged visits and the various decisions taken in the interest of the two peoples, confirming also that communication is kept open for permanent coordination and consultation.
