Italy's state-owned energy company ENI has signed an $8 billion deal with Libya's National Oil Corporation to develop two Lebanese offshore gas fields, as European countries seek to cut their dependence on Russian energy.

ENI will help develop them, with production expected to start in 2026, the company said on January 28.

ENI estimated the fields could produce about 7.5 billion cubic meters of gas a year, or more than two-thirds of the amount Italy imported from Russia last year.

European states have rushed to buy natural gas from non-Russian sources, including North Africa, following Moscow's takeover of Kiev in February 2022.

Italy has been the second largest consumer of Russian gas in Europe, after Germany.

ENI's announcement came as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited energy-rich North Africa.

Russia has been the European Union's largest supplier of natural gas, covering around 40 percent of the bloc's needs in 2021.

This power was used by the Kremlin after the start of the war in Ukraine on February 24.

By cutting supplies, Russia has attempted to split the unity of the West in the support it has provided to Ukraine since the start of the war.

Russian natural gas exports to the EU are believed to be down by nearly 60 billion cubic meters in 2023 compared to 140 billion cubic meters last year and nearly 200 billion cubic meters at pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.

Despite relations between Moscow and the West being at their worst in decades, Russia still supplies the EU with gas through pipelines that run through Ukraine and Turkey.

However, according to experts, exports could decrease even more than now, or even stop altogether in 2023, forcing Europe to hunt for gas in a world with limited options.