By Angelo Amante and Crispian Balmer
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.
Meloni travelled to Jeddah for the first visit by a European Union leader to Saudi Arabia since the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran in February and was due to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman later in the day, the official said.
The same source, who asked not to be named, said the two-day visit was mainly aimed at showing support for Gulf partners facing Iranian attacks and protecting Italy's own energy supplies, as the government grapples with rising fuel prices.
The official said Italy would confirm the intention of its majors - including energy giant Eni - to keep investing in the Gulf.
Italy is already supplying Gulf partners with defensive weapons against Iranian retaliatory attacks and is open to assessing further requests should they be made, the official added.
ENERGY WORRIES
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.
As part of efforts to guarantee reliable energy supplies amid a worsening security environment, Meloni last week visited Algeria in a bid to secure additional gas from the North African country.
The official said the prime minister would in coming weeks also visit Azerbaijan, another key energy supplier, but was unable to add Kuwait to her Gulf itinerary because of security concerns.
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)
