MILAN, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The chief executive of Snam

welcomed on Tuesday the European Commission's green

light for a deal for Italy's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG)

terminal, Adriatic LNG.

Earlier this year energy storage group VTTI agreed to buy a

70% stake in Adriatic LNG, with grid operator Snam increasing

its stake to 30% as ExxonMobil ( XOM ) and QatarEnergy sold the

infrastructure.

The LNG terminal is about nine miles (15 km) off the Veneto

coastline and has a regasification capacity of 9 billion cubic

metres (bcm) of gas per year.

It is considered key infrastructure for Italy's energy

security after the import of LNG increased significantly to

replace the gas that used to flow via pipeline from Russia

before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The Commission said on Tuesday it had approved the

acquisition of joint control by Snam and VTTI, saying the deal

would not raise competition concerns.

Snam CEO Stefano Venier said in a statement that the closing

of the transaction was expected at the beginning of December.