Prime Minister Hichem Mehichi met, on Tuesday in Kasbah, a high-level delegation of Italian oil and gas company ENI to discuss working conditions of the group in Tunisia in various fields, particularly renewable energy and hydrocarbons.
Mechichi stressed the need to ease the work of this company as well as of those which plan to invest in Tunisia, said a statement of the Prime Ministry.
He invited the «ENI» group to expand its activities in Tunisia, recalling that it was the first foreign company to invest in the country in hydrocarbons and has provided 25% of domestic production.
Mechichi said the government’s role is to iron out the difficulties faced by all companies wishing to invest in Tunisia in all sectors, including energy, especially as the country seeks to bring its energy transition to a conclusive end.
The Italian company had announced in late 2020 its intention to stop its fossil fuel exploitation activities in Tunisia and invest in clean energy, Director General of hydrocarbons at the Ministry of Industry and Energy Rachid Ben Dali said in April 2021.
«The company decided to leave Tunisia as part of its approach to invest in more profitable fields around the world, such as Egypt and Mozambique,” he pointed out.
He added that the agreements signed between Tunisia and ENI guarantee the latter the right to sell its shares to another party that is at the same financial and technical level.

Source: TAP News Agency