Italy's Meloni visits Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE amid Gulf tensions, energy worries

ROME, April 3 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister ​Giorgia Meloni flew to Saudi Arabia on Friday for ‌a previously unannounced trip that will also include meetings in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, a government official said.

The two-day visit is ​aimed at showing support for Gulf partners facing Iranian ​attacks and to protect Italy’s own energy supplies, the ⁠official said.

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It is the first trip by a European ​Union leader to Saudi since the conflict launched by the United States ​and Israel at the end of February and comes at a time of rising concern in Rome over the security of oil and ​gas flows.

Before the war, about 10% of Italy’s total gas ​consumption was covered by Qatari liquefied natural gas, while Middle East oil ‌accounted ⁠for around 12% of Italy’s total oil imports last year.

Last week, Italy was notified that its Gulf supplier had extended a pause in LNG deliveries because of the near-closure of ​the Strait of ​Hormuz and would ⁠not ship 10 cargoes between April and mid-June. Iranian attacks have also knocked out 17% ​of Qatar’s LNG export capacity, QatarEnergy’s CEO and ​state ⁠minister for energy affairs told Reuters last month.

Looking to make up the shortfall, Italy will begin receiving liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the ⁠Golden ​Pass LNG facility in the United ​States from June, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

Reporting ​by Giuseppe Fonte; Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Gavin Jones

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