MILAN, Reuters Energy storage group VTTI will get a 70 stake in Italy39;s biggest liquefied natural gas LNG terminal, with grid operator Snam owning the rest, the Milanlisted group said on Wednesday, announcing a deal to be finalised by yearend.

Snam, which is controlled by the Italian government, said in a statement it had exercised its preemption right to increase its stake in the infrastructure dubbed Adriatic LNG to 30 from 7.3.

The move comes after ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy last week agreed to sell their stakes in the terminal to a consortium led by Dutch group VTTI. It confirms what two sources had told Reuters.

This operation strengthens Snam39;s presence in LNG infrastructure, which is increasingly strategic for the security and diversification of Italy39;s energy supplies, Snam CEO Stefano Venier said, adding the group would support the terminal39;s expansion projects.

Snam did not give financial details for the deal while sources had previously said the deal would value the entire terminal around 800 million euros 866 million including debt.

REPLACING RUSSIAN GAS

The terminal is located about 9 miles 15 km off the Veneto coastline and has a regasification capacity of 9 billion cubic metres bcm of natural gas per year.

Europe has increased LNG imports after Russia39;s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 drastically curtailed gas coming through pipelines.

Snam holds stakes in all the remaining LNG terminals currently operating in Italy for a total…