Reuters has quoted the Italian Ecology Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani as saying on Monday that his country will conclude its first deal to obtain more gas from Libya and other suppliers, to replace Russian flows in the coming weeks.

"A series of talks are underway ... in the next few weeks, we will close the first agreements," Cingolani said in an online conference.

According to the Italian official, Rome plans to get an extra 10 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas from pipelines to Algeria, Libya, and Azerbaijan this year.

Reuters added that this figure will exceed 20 billion cubic meters by 2024 as Italy, which sources about 40% of its gas imports from Russia, is desperate to find alternatives and diversify its supply mix following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Libya currently exports to Italy small quantities of gas estimated at only 2.5% of the total daily demand, while Italy's main supplies come from Russia, then Algeria, and Qatar.