Eni announced today, Thursday, that natural gas flows from Libya to Italy have decreased, due to “unscheduled maintenance” in Mellitah complex, and they can be reduced to zero, after a significant decrease since November 22, with the possibility of stopping the flow of gas to Italy.
Informed sources told Nova that the sulfur extraction unit broke down and needed maintenance, so only one unit will remain operational, in addition to the estimated time for repairs being approximately one week.
According to the Nova Agency, Libya’s total gas production reached 9.23 billion cubic meters in 2021, compared to internal requirements of approximately 6 billion cubic meters, numbers that can actually change, and that with the discovery of new huge gas fields, and the construction of new combined-cycle plants. Or large plants from renewable energy sources, in particular solar energy, where Total Energy takes the lead.
Sanam data on gas flows related to points related to the national transmission network also shows a significant decrease in incoming flows, from 10 million cubic meters per day on November 21 to 4 million cubic meters yesterday, compared to 2 million cubic meters per day on November 22, the day of decline.
Nova added that Libya can export up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually to Italy through the “Green Strye” pipeline that connects Sicily to the Eni gas fields in southwestern Libya, as only 3.23 billion cubic meters of Libyan gas arrived in 2021, a decrease from 4.46 billion cubic meters in the previous year.
It is worth noting that Libya supplies Italy with about 4 percent of the gas imported to Italy through pipelines, and that all the gas goes to the local Libyan markets as a matter of priority.