Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi will visit the Republic of Congo and Angola and is expected to sign new energy supply agreements to reduce his country's dependence on Russian gas, Reuters reported.

Draghi, who will head a delegation expected to include Ecology Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, will visit the two countries on April 20 or 21, the sources said.

According to one source, the goal is to get about 9 billion cubic meters of new gas over the next year or two.

Italy draws about 40% of its gas imports from Russia and has been scrambling to diversify its energy supply mix as the conflict in Ukraine drags on.

On Monday Draghi clinched a deal to ramp up gas imports from Algeria by 9 bcm in 2023-24 to help replace some of the 29 bcm Italy receives from Russia.

State-controlled Eni, the biggest foreign energy producer in Africa, is developing two liquefied natural gas plants in Congo Republic which could deliver 5 bcm of LNG when fully operative.

It also has producing assets in Angola, where it recently signed a joint venture agreement with BP. A government source said that Angola will be able to supply about 4 billion cubic meters of LNG per year in a couple of years.

Eni, which discovered the super-giant Zohr gas field in Egypt in 2015, is building a floating LNG plant in Mozambique that is expected to start production later this year and will process about 3.4 million tons of gas a year in operation.

"Draghi is planning to visit Mozambique soon, though as yet no date has been set," one of the sources said.