ROME--Libyan natural gas exports to Italy may grind to a halt if
protests at a key terminal continue, Paolo Scaroni, chief executive
of Italian energy giant Eni SpA (ENI.MI), said Wednesday,
indicating that civil unrest in the north African country could
interrupt critical supplies to Europe ahead of winter.
Protests at the Mellitah terminal are "pushing us to interrupt
total [gas] exports to Italy," said Mr. Scaroni in a radio
interview. "This is worrying."
The Mellitah terminal, which is jointly run by Eni and the
Libyan National Oil Company, is key to facilitating gas exports via
the Greenstream pipeline from Libya to Italy. The pipeline can
supply more than 10% of gas demand in Italy.
However, Mr. Scaroni played down the risk to Italy's gas
supplies.
"I see no problems of supply, there's plenty from other parts of
the world and with the present benevolent [warm] weather we are
seeing in Italy, I don't see this as a problem," Mr Scaroni said in
the interview.
Russian and Algerian gas imports cover around 60% of Italy's gas
supply needs.
Eni's third-quarter results, published last week, were hit by
disruptions to Libya's oil and gas flows. The resources-rich
country remains scarred by the 2011 civil war that brought down the
four-decade regime of Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
Eni has the biggest operations in Libya--a former Italian
colony--of any international energy company.
There have been a series of protests in the north African nation
over higher pay and more jobs at hydrocarbon plants--the main
source of foreign income for the country. They have included
minority groups that were set aside under the Gadhafi regime and
who now want some share of Libya's wealth.
Mr. Scaroni has said there are a large number of weapons freely
available in Libya since the fall of the Gadhafi regime and that
most Libyans appear to be armed--an indication of the perceived
security risk across the country.
Livia Lepore, MF-DJ, in Rome, contributed to this story.
Write to Liam Moloney at liam.moloney@wsj.com
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