Italy's Eni in talks with Japan on supplying LNG, executive says

Italian energy company Eni is in talks with Japan on supplying country with liquefied natural gas (LNG), Cristian Sigretto, Eni's director for global gas and LNG portfolio, told reporters on sidelines of a conference on Sunday.

"We alrey deal with Japanese buyers on a short-term basis and we would like to expand that collaboration also to a long-term basis," Sigretto said, ding that Eni plans to bring more LNG volumes to market including from Indonesia and also wants Japanese financial institutions to support some projects.

Eni plans to build its LNG portfolio to 18 million metric tonnes per year by 2027 and would be rey to commit part of it to Japan if opportunity is re, he ded.

Sigretto said it was early to say about specifics of discussions, including wher Eni would insist on destination clauses, which are obligations in contracts for buyer t to resell gas to third parties.

In recent years, re has been a growing demand among Japanese buyers for deals with shorter duration and without destination clauses as this allows buyers in Japan, world's second-biggest LNG importer, to stay flexible and also to resell LNG.

"Flexibility will be part of discussion," Sigretto said, without providing details.