Eni chief greets Pakistani president

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KARACHI, Pakistan, July 20 (UPI) -- Italian energy company Eni announced it was offering expertise and technology to the Pakistani government in the oil and natural gas sector.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari met with Eni Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni to Karachi to discuss energy operations in the country.

Eni has worked in the upstream sector in Pakistan for more than a decade. Production there for the company in terms of natural gas is equal to about 10 percent of the national output.

"During the meeting the potential further developments of the strategic partnership between Eni and the government of Pakistan with regards to the oil and gas sector have been discussed, for which Eni is offering its expertise and innovative technology," the company said in a statement.

Pakistan is coping with a lingering energy crisis brought on by a shortage of natural gas supplies. It's been exploring imports through planned pipelines from Iran and Turkmenistan.

The country is said to have considered exploiting natural gas reserves in underground shale formations but hasn't conducted any significant research yet in that area.