Italy/Congo – Eni has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Republic of Congo’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries, Paul Valentin Ngobo, the Minister of Hydrocarbons, Bruno Jean Richard Itoua, and the Minister of International Cooperation and Promotion of Public-Private Partnerships, Denis Christel Sassou N’Guesso, on the joint development of the country’s agro-biofuel sector.
The MoU establishes the framework for industrial-scale castor oil production to supply feedstock for Eni’s bio-refinery system, while also creating job opportunities and expanding agricultural activities to marginal and abandoned lands, while avoiding impacts on agricultural areas and activities currently destined for food production. The trial phase is scheduled to begin this month, with castor bean sowing activities on more than 200 hectares of land and up to 1,000 expected beneficiaries. By 2030, cultivations on 150,000 hectares are expected, with 90,000 potential beneficiaries.
This MoU establishes a new area of activity for Eni in Congo, supporting the Congolese National Development Plan for Agriculture 2018-2022, and builds on Eni’s commitment to contribute to the decarbonisation of African countries’ energy mix, leveraging the contribution that biofuels can make to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, an Eni delegation led by CEO Claudio Descalzi met with President of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso to discuss agricultural projects and gas valorization, with the goal of ensuring the country’s development and economic diversification within the context of the global energy transition. Eni is the sole corporation involved in the exploitation of the Republic of Congo’s significant gas resources, and it now feeds gas to the CĆ©ntrale Electrique du Congo (CEC), which ensures 70% of the country’s power production.
