Italy PM signs clutch of deal with Algeria president

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi sealed 15 agreements with Algeria's president, ahead of the expected conclusion of another deal to boost gas deliveries and reduce Italy's reliance on Russian supplies.

Draghi was received by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and the two went on to sign agreements and memorandums of understanding in areas ranging from energy to sustainable development, justice and micro-enterprises.

The energy agreement signed is "a testament to our determination to achieve even more in this domain," Draghi said, ahead of the expected signing of an oil and gas supply deal between Algeria and a clutch of companies including Italian energy giant Eni.

"Tomorrow, an important agreement between (US energy firm) Occidental (Petroleum), Eni and (French oil company) Total providing significant volumes of natural gas" to Italy will be signed, Tebboune earlier told reporters at a joint news conference with Draghi.

This contract will allow "the development of a site situated in the Berkine perimeter, and which should generate more than a billion barrels" of hydrocarbons, a government source said.

Tebboune said the deal was worth $4 billion.

Algeria has therefore supplanted Russia to "become in recent months the biggest supplier of gas" to Italy, Draghi told reporters.

Algeria is Africa's biggest gas exporter and supplies around 11 percent of the natural gas consumed in Europe.