Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to Rome that Israel is ready to increase gas supplies to Italy to help it become a hub for Europe’s energy supply.
“Italy says it wants to be a hub for Europe’s energy supply. We think so too and we have gas reserves that we are now exporting, so would would like to speed up the export of gas to Europe via Italy,” Netanyahu said after talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni.
Israel signed the initial contract with the Italian energy company Eni and the French energy giant last November TotalEnergieswhich allows them to start natural gas exploration within the framework of the landmark agreement on the sea border with Lebanon.
“Eni is now involved in our gas projects, but we think we can take it to a much higher level,” Netanyahu said, announcing that Italian and Israeli ministers would meet in Israel for bilateral talks in the coming months.
Italy is seeking to replace gas imports from Russia after the war in Ukraine and also to become the main intermediary in the export of gas from North Africa and the Mediterranean to European countries.
Source: Rtvslo
