Under the agreement, a joint venture company will be created to develop the Sardinian natural gas market, and to market Algerian gas on the island.
The 8 billion cubic-metre-a-year Galsi pipeline, connecting Algeria to Italy via Sardinia, is likely to come on stream in 2011. Financing is expected to be in place by mid-2008, after which construction can begin.
Snam Rete Gas, a subsidiary of Italy’s Eni, signed a memorandum of understanding on 7 November to build the Italian section of the pipeline.
The section includes a 300-kilometre-long overland section in Sardinia, between Cagliari and Olbia, and a 220-kilometre offshore section to Pescaia on the Italian mainland (MEED 9:11:07).