Italian energy giant Eni has announced the delivery of its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo to the SNAM regasification terminal in Piombino, Italy.

The 90 million-cubic-metre cargo is the first commercial usage of the facility following the completion of testing. The terminal will produce two billion cubic metres of gas this year. The following year this productive capacity is set to rise to five billion cubic metres of gas per year, equivalent to 7% of Italy’s annual gas demand.

An initial, non-commercial cargo was provided in May 2023. At the time, Eni stated: “Contracted LNG is expected to exceed 18 million tonnes per annum by 2026, twice as much as in 2022. This confirms LNG’s role as a reliable energy source in support of security of supply and the energy transition.”

It was recently reported that Eni was considering selling its oil assets in order to prioritise further natural gas developments. It has already signed a deal to sell $300m (€273.76m) of oil assets in the Republic of Congo to Perenco.

Eni added in May that it hoped the added capacity of the Piombino plant would help the company to replace Russian gas “completely” by 2024–25, furthering the company’s aims to increase energy security in Italy. Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 40% of Italian gas was imported from Russia. Russian gas now equates to less than 10% of the country’s gas mix.

The Piombino plant’s first commercial LNG cargo was provided by Sonatrach, the Algerian state energy company, from its liquefaction plant on the Algerian coast.

In January, Eni and Sonatrach signed a strategic agreement to collaborate on emission reduction and promote energy security. Eni has operated in Algeria since 1981 and is the largest international company in the country, with an equity production of 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per year.