Italy’s Eni SpA is expanding partnerships and exploration in some of its existing territories in order to boost natural gas deliveries to Europe.

Eni announced it is working closely with the state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. to increase gas production and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the country, with a specific target of sending more cargoes to Italy.

Adding in the volumes it expects to gain by cooperating with Egypt on the restart of the Damietta LNG plant, Eni estimated its LNG volumes to Europe could grow by 3 billion cubic meters (Bcm) this year.

As a part of the agreement, Eni said it plans to optimize exploration of its blocks in the Nile Delta, Eastern Mediterranean and Western Desert regions. Last week, the company announced a discovery of around 8,500 boe/d in the Meleiha concessions of the Western Desert.

Eni has also penned an agreement with Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach to increase gas imports through the Trans-Mediterranean Pipeline by an additional 9 Bcm/year by 2023.

Italy imported 29 Bcm of pipeline gas from Russia last year. Historically, around 44% of Italy’s natural gas imports come from Russia, according to the Energy Information Administration. It is one of the three largest importers of Russian gas, behind Germany and Turkey.

Italy, like other European Union members trying to support a besieged Ukraine, has been trying to reduce its dependency on Russian gas as future supplies are threatened. Along with agreements with existing partners, Italy has joined a growing list of European countries seeking floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) to increase its ability to handle LNG.

The move coincides with Egypt’s plans to increase LNG exports. Egypt’s Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla reported in November that the nation’s LNG plants had reached full capacity, taking advantage of a jump in global LNG prices during the fall.

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