ITALY PLANS MORE GAS IMPORTS
Italy has taken the first step in a program calling for a substantial increase in gas imports.
Snam SpA signed a contract to buy 530 billion cu m of gas during a 25 year period from Algeria's Sonatrach. That will raise current deliveries of 11 billion cu m/year to 19 billion cu m/year.
In addition, Italy's electrical power authority has entered a crucial stage in negotiations to buy 5 billion cu m of natural gas/year as LNG from arctic areas off northern Norway.
Three companies-Den norske stats oljeselskap AS, Norsk Hydro, and Total Norsk-have formed a joint venture to build and operate a gas liquefaction plant on the northern tip of Norway using natural gas from Snohvit field to service any contract with Italy.
MORE ALGERIAN GAS
The additional Algerian gas will be delivered to Italy through the trans-Mediterranean pipeline, which will undergo a major expansion to carry the added volumes. Work is expected to take about 3 years, allowing increased deliveries starting in 1994.
The current pipeline under the Mediterranean has a capacity of 14 billion cu m/year in the section from Algeria to the Tunisian border and about 12.5 billion cu m/year in the subsea section from Tunisia to the Italian mainland. The system consists of three 20 in. subsea lines. System expansion will involve laying one or possibly two 24 in. lines under the Mediterranean.
Sonatrach may use the expanded subsea system and the Italian grid to deliver gas to Austria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia.
A feasibility study for the project is under way.
After the signing ceremony between Snam and Sonatrach, Snam Pres. Pio Pigorini said the deal is part of a state policy of diversifying supplies.
Last year Italy consumed an estimated 47.5 billion cu m of natural gas, of which 16.5 billion came from Italian fields.
The Soviet Union was the biggest single supplier, delivering 14 billion cu m. Netherlands provided 6 billion cu m, and Algeria 11 billion cu m.
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