Trans-Mediterranean Pipeline

Trans-Mediterranean Pipeline
Trans-Mediterranean and future Trans-Saharan gas pipelines
Location
Country	Algeria, Tunisia, Italy
General direction	south-north
From	Hassi R'Mel, Algeria
Passes through	Tunisia, Mediterranean Sea
To	Minerbio, Italy
General information
Type	natural gas
Partners	Sonatrach, Sotugat, Eni
Operator	Sonatrach, Sergaz, TMPC,
Commissioned	1983
Technical information
Length	2,475 km (1,538 mi)
Maximum discharge	30.2 billion cubic metres per annum (1.07×10^12 cu ft/a)

The Trans-Mediterranean Pipeline (TransMed; also Enrico Mattei gas pipeline) is a natural gas pipeline from Algeria via Tunisia to Sicily and thence to mainland Italy. An extension of the TransMed pipeline delivers Algerian gas to Slovenia.

The pipeline from Algeria to Italy was proposed in 1960s. A preliminary feasibility study was conducted in 1969 and the first route survey in 1970. In 1974–75, technical tests of laying pipes in the Mediterranean Sea were carried out. In 1977, supply and transit agreements were signed.

The first phase of pipeline was constructed in 1978-1983 and second phase in 1991-1994. The capacity of the pipeline was doubled in 1994. In 2000, the gas pipeline was named after Enrico Mattei.

In the fall of 1997, a terrorist attack severed the pipeline in Algeria for five days. The pipeline was listed under the Critical Foreign Dependencies Initiative by the United States in a diplomatic cable leaked to .

On February 28, 2010, a new 549-kilometre (341 mi) section was completed in Bir El Ater, Tebessa Province, which was expected to increase transport capacity by 7 billion cubic metres per annum (250 billion cubic feet per annum).

The pipeline begins from the Hassi R'mel field in Algeria and runs 550 kilometres (340 mi) to the Tunisian border. In Tunisia, the pipeline runs for 370 kilometres (230 mi) to El Haouaria, in the Cap Bon region, after which it crosses the 155-kilometre (96 mi)-wide Channel of Sicily. It landfalls in Mazara del Vallo in Sicily. From there, the pipeline continues 340 kilometres (210 mi) in Sicily, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) across the Strait of Messina and 1,055 kilometres (656 mi) in Italian mainland to northern Italy with a branch to Slovenia.