Eni’s Natural Resources Chief Operating Officer, Guido Brusco, announced that  Algeria, Egypt and Libya will be Italy’s main gas suppliers for the next few years, Reuters reported.

He noted that the energy group would intensify its investments in Africa both in exploration and in new low-carbon projects.

Last year, Eni replaced its supplies from Russia by shipping increasing volumes of gas from Africa to its home country which marked Algeria as Italy’s largest supplier of gas, instead of Russia.

“Africa is a continent where much investment is needed even in the traditional exploration and production business,” Brusco said in an interview with Reuters.

Brusco highlighted that the company expects a key role for Algeria and Egypt in addition to a larger role for Libya and several sub-Saharan countries. So that, Eni seeks multi-billion investments to guarantee exports to Italy which can serve the African market and send more gas to Europe.

“Fields are declining but 80% of global energy demand is still based on fossils, so while cleaner sources are being developed it’s necessary to manage oil and gas reduction… particularly in Africa where the population is growing and development is accelerating,” Brusco said.

Brusco Pointed out that the company tends to invest around $3.5 billion over four years in activities including exploration and management of existing fields in Egypt noting that “The field’s performance [Zohr] is in line with our plans and better than that of bigger fields in Russia”.

Regarding Algeria, the company’s  export to Italy is planned at around 15 billion cubic metres (bcm), up from 12 bcm last year, depending on demand, Brusco said. In Libya, Eni plans $8 billion of investment.

Turning to sub-Sahara, Brusco remarked its Ivory Coast’s Baleine project which is the first gas and oil field with net zero emissions in the whole of the continent.

“The production started last month, less than two years from the discovery, and is going very well,” he said.