Libya, Italy sign gas deal as Meloni visits

Описание: (28 Jan 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tripoli, Libya - 28 January 2023
1. Wide of Libyan Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dbeibah greeting Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at conference centre
2. Various of Dbeibah shaking hands with members of Italy delegation
3. Dbeibah and Meloni shaking hands and walking
4. Various of Dbeibah and Meloni walking on red carpet as band plays during welcome ceremony
5. Dbeibah and Meloni shaking hands during photo up
6. Dbeibah and Meloni walking on red carpet
7. Meeting between Libyan government and Italian delegation
8. Various of Dbeibah during meeting
9. Meloni smiles during meeting
10. Various of Libyan National Oil Corporation and Eni (Italian energy company) signing ceremony
11. Various of head of Libyan Oil Corporation Farhat Bin Qadara and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi signing agreement
12. Qadara and Descalzi shaking hands after signing
13. Descalzi, Meloni, Dbeibah and Bin Qadara posing for picture after signing
14. Joint news conference held by Dbeibah and Meloni
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdel Hamid Dbeibah, Libyan Prime Minister:
“This visit culminated in the signing of an investment agreement in the field of gas between the National Oil Corporation and our active partner the Italian company Eni, a memorandums of understanding were also signed between the foreign ministers of the two countries regarding supporting Libya with 5 boats equipped in the field of search and rescue.”
16. Sign Reading (Arabic/English) “Eni - Libyan National Oil Corporation”
17. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Giorgia Meloni, Italian Prime Minister:
“This important day we adopted an agreement signed by our respective foreign ministers whom I thank with the aim of strengthening the capabilities and cooperation with the authorities there at the Coast Guard and therefore also obviously the interior minister is also present, as is the minister of the Interior of Libya.”
18. Joint news conference held by Dbeibah and Meloni
STORYLINE:
Italy’s prime minister held talks in Libya on Saturday with officials from the country’s west-based government focusing on energy and migration, top issues for Italy and the European Union.

During the visit, the two countries' oil companies signed a gas deal worth $8 billion — the largest single investment in Libya’s energy sector in more than two decades.

Libya is the second North African country that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has visited this week. She is seeking to secure new supplies of natural gas to replace Russian energy amid Moscow's war on Ukraine.

She previously visited Algeria, Italy’s main supplier of natural gas, where she signed several memorandums.

Meloni landed at the Mitiga airport, the only functioning airport in Libya's capital, Tripoli, amid tight security, accompanied by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, her office said.

She met with Abdel Hamid Dbeibah, who heads one of Libya’s rival administrations, and was also to hold talks with Mohamed Younis Menfi, who chairs Libya's ceremonial presidential council.

At a round-table with Dbeibah, Meloni repeated her remarks from Algeria, saying that while Italy wants to increase its profile in the region, it doesn’t seek a “predatory” role but wants to help African nations “grow and become richer.”

During the visit, Claudio Descalzi, the CEO of Italy’s state-run energy company, ENI, signed an $8 billion deal with Libya’s National Oil Corporation to develop two Libyan offshore gas fields. NOC's chairman Farhat Bengdara also signed.












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