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MILAN, July 16 (Reuters) – Venture Global (VG.N) will supply 2 million metric tons a year of liquefied natural gas to Italian state-controlled energy group Eni (ENI.MI), the two companies said on Wednesday.
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The deal is Eni’s first long-term contract for LNG coming from the United States after Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni told President Donald Trump in April that Rome would increase imports of U.S. LNG as a way to improve trade relations with North America.
Last month Venture Global said it would supply an additional 0.75 million metric tons per annum of LNG to Germany-based distributor SEFE Energy GmbH, in another deal with a European offtaker.
The European Union is currently in negotiations with Washington over 30% trade tariffs on its exports towards North America.
“We do not comment on the ongoing negotiations between the EU and the U.S. administration on tariffs,” an Eni spokesperson told Reuters, calling Wednesday’s agreement “highly advantageous” for both the company and its American partner, which would become an important supplier for the group.
Eni said the gas would come from Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass 2 project, under development in Louisiana, starting from the end of the decade.
Part of the volume will contribute to the diversification of Europe’s gas supplies, the energy giant added.
Eni said the deal would support the group’s ambitions to grow its LNG portfolio to approximately 20 million tons per annum of contracted volumes by 2030, and to expand its trading business.
Italian utility Edison also buys LNG from the United States.
Additional reporting by Katha Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed, Kirsten Donovan
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