Libya gas supplies to Italy resume: ENI

MILAN: Libyan gas supplies to Italy through the Greenstream pipeline resumed on Thursday in a move to avert winter shortages following an eight-month suspension due to the conflict in Libya, Italian energy major ENI said.

"NOC (National Oil Corporation) and ENI... today began injecting natural gas through the Greenstream gas pipeline," ENI said in a statement.

Greenstream was suspended on February 22 and ENI had warned it wanted to resume supplies as soon as possible to avoid shortages in the winter.

It said the pipeline, which accounted for around 11 percent of Italy's gas imports last year, would bring Italy "greater security on energy supplies".

The president of the state-run National Oil Company (NOC), Nuri Berruien, confirmed on Thursday that Libya had started exporting "limited quantities" of natural gas to Italy.

But he insisted that what he called "official" production levels would not resume until the end of November, or early December.

"Then we will decide what our domestic needs are and what we are able to export," Berruien told a news conference in Tripoli.

ENI is the biggest foreign energy producer in Libya, a former Italian colony that had close ties with Italy under ousted strongman Moamer Kadhafi.

The energy giant, which has worked in Libya since 1959, signed an agreement in August with the new rulers in Tripoli so that the company could resume output as soon as possible.

The group said it had been in almost daily contact with the leaders of the Libyan rebels since April, amid concern in some quarters that France would be rewarded with energy contracts for its early role in aiding the rebels.

Libya accounts for around 15 percent of ENI's global production.

ENI had re-started oil production in Libya on September 26 though chief executive Paolo Scaroni had warned it could take up to 18 months to get back to normal because of extensive damage and the security situation on the ground.

ENI said it had initially pumped a volume equivalent to three million cubic metres of gas per day through the pipeline from the Wafa field, some 500 kilometres (311 miles) southeast of Tripoli.

Wafa was the only field where ENI did not suspend production during the conflict although it reduced output to supply only the domestic market.

It said it was planning to resume gas production from the Sabratah offshore field next month in order to boost supplies through Greenstream.

ENI's net oil production fell to 50,000 barrels per day during the conflict, compared to around 280,000 barrels normally.

Europe's refiners had struggled to replace Libya's highly valued light crude, sending prices soaring in the first six months of the year.

On the Milan stock exchange, ENI shares were down 0.66 percent at 15.02 euros after the announcement in a market that was down 2.39 percent overall. (AFP)