The Trans-Mediterranean Pipeline (''TransMed''; also ''Enrico Mattei gas pipeline'') is a natural gas pipeline from

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

via

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and thence to mainland

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. An extension of the TransMed pipeline delivers Algerian gas to

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

History

The pipeline from Algeria to Italy was proposed in 1960s. A preliminary feasibility study was conducted in 1969 and the first route survey in 1970. In 1974–75, technical tests of laying pipes in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

were carried out. In 1977, supply and transit agreements were signed. The first phase of pipeline was constructed in 1978–1983 and second phase in 1991–1994. The capacity of the pipeline was doubled in 1994. In 2000, the gas pipeline was named after

Enrico Mattei Enrico Mattei (; 29 April 1906 – 27 October 1962) was an Italian public administrator. After World War II, he was given the task of dismantling the Italian petroleum agency Agip, a state enterprise established by Fascist Italy. Instead, Ma ...

. In the fall of 1997, a terrorist attack severed the pipeline in Algeria for five days. On February 28, 2010, a new section was completed in Bir El Ater, Tebessa Province, which was expected to increase transport capacity by .

Route

The pipeline begins from the

Hassi R'mel Hassi R'Mel (, Berber language: Ḥasi Eṛṛmel) is a town in Algeria located near the 18th largest gas field worldwide. Hassi R'Mel is located in Laghouat Province northwest of Ghardaïa. It is the capital of Hassi R'Mel District. Hassi R'Me ...

field in Algeria and runs to the Tunisian border. In Tunisia, the pipeline runs for to El Haouaria, in the

Cap Bon Cape Bon ("Good Cape"), also known as Res et-Teib (), Shrīk Peninsula, or Watan el Kibli, is a peninsula in far northeastern Tunisia. Cape Bon is also the name of the northernmost point on the peninsula, also known as Res ed-Der, and known in ant ...

region, after which it crosses the -wide

Channel of Sicily The Strait of Sicily (also known as Sicilian Strait, Sicilian Channel, Channel of Sicily, Sicilian Narrows and Pantelleria Channel; or the ; or , ' or ') is the strait between Sicily and Tunisia. The strait is about wide and divides the Tyr ...

. It landfalls in

Mazara del Vallo Mazara del Vallo (; is a city and in the province of Trapani, northwestern Sicily, Italy. It lies mainly on the left bank at the mouth of the Mazaro river. It is an agricultural and fishing centre and its port gives shelter to the largest fi ...

in Sicily. From there, the pipeline continues in Sicily, across the

Strait of Messina The Strait of Messina (; ) is a narrow strait between the eastern tip of Sicily (Punta del Faro) and the western tip of Calabria (Punta Pezzo) in Southern Italy. It connects the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north with the Ionian Sea to the south, with ...

and in Italian mainland to northern Italy with a branch to Slovenia.

Technical description

The Algerian section consists of a compressor station and two lines with diameter. The Tunisian section consists of three compressor stations and two lines of diameter. In 2007, SCOGAT (''Société pour la Construction du Gazoduc Transtunisien'') awarded the Italian contractor

Saipem Saipem S.p.A. (Società Azionaria Italiana Perforazioni E Montaggi lit. ''Drilling and Assembly Italian Public Limited Company'') is an Italian multinational oilfield services company and one of the largest in the world. Until 2016 it was a sub ...

a contract for two new gas compression stations and the upgrading of the existing compressor stations allowing to increase the capacity of Tunisian section by 6.5 bcm. The royalties for the gas transport received by Tunisia are 5.25 — 6.75 percent value of the transported gas. The offshore section across Channel of Sicily consists three lines with diameter of and two lines with diameter of . In Italy, the diameter of two lines varies between and . In 2012 the capacity of the pipeline increased from 30.2 billion cubic meter (bcm) of natural gas per year up to 33.5 bcm by 2012.

Operators

The Algerian section is operated by Algerian state-owned company

Sonatrach Sonatrach (; ) is the national state-owned oil company of Algeria. Founded in 1963, it is known today to be the largest company in Africa with 154 subsidiaries, and often referred as the first African oil "major". In 2021, Sonatrach was the seven ...

. The Tunisian section is owned by the state-owned Sotugat (Société Tunisienne du Gazoduc Trans-tunisien) and commercially operated by TTPC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SeaCorridor (a joint venture between

Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...

and

Snam Snam S.p.A. is an Italian energy infrastructure company. As of 31 December 2023, it had a market capitalization of €15,611 million. Snam was originally a subsidiary of Italian energy company Eni. It has since become an independent company, wh ...

). The section across the Channel of Sicily is owned by TMPC and commercially operated by Transmed, both joint ventures between SeaCorridor and Sonatrach. The Italian section is operated by

Snam Rete Gas Snam S.p.A. is an Italian energy infrastructure company. As of 31 December 2023, it had a market capitalization of €15,611 million. Snam was originally a subsidiary of Italian energy company Eni. It has since become an independent company, who ...

References

{{coord, 44.6080, N, 11.5004, E, source:wikidata, display=title Energy infrastructure completed in 1983 Natural gas pipelines in Italy Natural gas pipelines in Algeria Natural gas pipelines in Tunisia Italy–Tunisia relations Eni Algeria–Italy relations Algeria–Tunisia relations Pipelines under the Mediterranean Sea 1983 establishments in Algeria 1983 establishments in Tunisia 1983 establishments in Italy

History

Route

Technical description

Operators

See also

References