ENI is the biggest foreign oil company in Libya and runs a pipeline to Sicily from the Mellitah gas terminal in the troubled country.
"What we are worried about at the moment is the Mellitah terminal, which has been attacked by protesters, pushing us to stop exports towards Italy," Italian media quoted chief executive Paolo Scaroni as saying.
However, Scaroni said he did not forsee problems with gas supply to Italy.
Contacted by AFP, the ENI press office was unable to say whether the attackers were armed.
Last week, protesters from Libya's minority Amazigh Berber ethnic group held a sit-in at the Mellitah terminal to demand greater rights.
Berbers make up about 10 percent of Libya's population. They were persecuted under former dictator Moamer Kadhafi and feel marginalised under the new regime even though they played a key role in the 2011 uprising.
The company that manages the Mellitah terminal is owned jointly by ENI and Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC). It supplies Italy with 17 million cubic metres of gas a day.
hurriyetdailynews.com
6/11/13
--
Διακόπηκε η ροή φυσικού αερίου από τη Λιβύη προς την Ιταλία...
ReplyDeleteΗ ροή του φυσικού αερίου από τη Λιβύη προς την Ιταλία διακόπηκε σήμερα εξαιτίας των "διαδηλώσεων" που οργανώνονται στον τερματικό σταθμό του δικτύου υγραερίου στην Μελίτα, όπως ανακοίνωσε η ιταλική πετρελαϊκή εταιρεία Eni, σύμφωνα με την οποία δεν υπάρχει κανένα πρόβλημα ανεφοδιασμού της ιταλικής αγοράς.
"Εδώ και μερικές ημέρες παρακολουθούμε τις κινητοποιήσεις ορισμένων κοινοτήτων και ακτιβιστών στον τερματικό σταθμό. Σήμερα οι διαδηλωτές διέκοψαν τη ροή φυσικού αερίου από τη Λιβύη προς την Ιταλία", ανέφερε ένας εκπρόσωπος του ιταλικού ομίλου μιλώντας στο Γαλλικό Πρακτορείο.
Ο εκπρόσωπος βεβαίωσε ότι τόσο ο σταθμός ανεφοδιασμού όσο και ο αγωγός μεταφοράς του αερίου Greenstream είναι ασφαλείς. "Προς το παρόν δεν βλέπουμε να υπάρχει κάποιο πρόβλημα στον ανεφοδιασμό της Ιταλίας", πρόσθεσε.
Πρόσφατα, στον τερματικό σταθμό οργανώθηκε καθιστική διαμαρτυρία από τη φυλή των Αμαζίγκ της Λιβύης οι οποίοι απειλούσαν ότι θα τον αποκλείσουν διεκδικώντας να συμπεριληφθεί στο σύνταγμα της χώρας η προστασία των πολιτισμικών ιδιαιτεροτήτων τους.
Πηγή: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
http://www.capital.gr/News.asp?id=1905811
11/11/13
Libyan Berbers shut gas pipeline to Italy, cut major income source...
Delete(Reuters) - Protesters have shut Libya's gas export pipeline to Italy, its only customer, demanding more rights for the Amazigh, or Berber, minority and depriving the weak government of a major source of income.
The closure worsens turmoil in Libya where Prime Minister Ali Zeidan warned on Sunday that the government might face budget problems next month after protesters cut oil production to a fraction of its capacity.
The North African country faces anarchy as the government has failed to rein in armed militias and radical Islamists who helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but kept their weapons.
Although the closure on Monday of the Greenstream pipeline will take several hours to register at the other end, it adds to Italy's energy headaches after Ukraine halted gas imports from Russia, which could also impact supplies. Italy depends heavily on Russian gas.
Amazigh protesters last month seized the port at the Mellitah complex, some 100 km west of Tripoli, and have already shut down oil exports from there. The oil and gas complex is operated by Libya's National Oil Corp and Italian energy company Eni.
"We tried to convince them not to close the pipeline, but it's closed now," Munir Abu Saud, head of the local oil workers' union, told Reuters.
"Sadly, its true," said a senior official at the Libyan oil ministry. Tripoli has seen its authority crumbling over its restive regions and fears an exodus of foreign oil companies and investment.
The Amazigh minority in September shut a pipeline feeding gas from Eni's Wafa field to export facilities at Mellitah. Although this squeezed exports, much of the gas Libya sends to Italy comes from offshore fields.
A spokesman for the protesters camped out at the Mellitah complex said they had ordered the closure because Libya's parliament and the government had not met their demands by Sunday. They had set several deadlines.
"This time it is for real because the General National Congress did not meet our demands," the spokesman said.
MINORITY DEMANDS
The Amazigh protesters want their language guaranteed under Libya's planned new constitution and a bigger say in a committee to be elected to draft the constitution. They say Berbers are treated as second-class citizens in the Arab country.....http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/11/us-libya-gas-idUSBRE9AA0UT20131111?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
11/11/13