Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi will visit Algeria on Monday to sign an agreement on gas imports, Reuters reports citing its own sources.

Draghi will travel with a delegation expected to include Claudio Descalzi, head of Italy's energy group Eni, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and Energy Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani, a government source said.

Italy, which receives about 40% of its gas imports from Russia, is trying to diversify its energy supply system as the conflict in Ukraine escalates.

Earlier this week, Cingolani said Italy was in talks with seven countries to get more gas, with some negotiations at a very advanced stage.

Algeria is Italy's second largest supplier of gas, and the Transmed pipeline has been pumping Algerian gas to Italian shores since 1983. It has a capacity of over 110 million cubic meters per day, but it currently transports less than 60 million cubic meters.

Rising domestic consumption, underinvestment and political instability, including the closure of a pipeline to Spain over a dispute with Morocco, have limited Algerian gas exports.

However, last year Italian imports rose by 76% to 21.2 billion cubic meters. m (billion cubic meters) - 29% of the total supply. Rome said it wants to get another 9 billion cubic meters. m from a North African country.