ROME, May 16 (UPI) -- Imposing sanctions on the Libyan energy sector for Italy would be akin to shooting the country in the foot, the head of Italian energy company Eni said.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini announced April 4 that Rome recognized the opposition Libyan National Transitional Council as the legitimate leader of the Libyan people.
Leaders from Libya's transitional council have agreements with Qatar to market oil produced in rebel-held territory and Italian energy company Eni has similar arrangements.
Eni Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni has expressed opposition to sanctions against Libya at a time when commodity markets are hovering at post-recession highs.
"If the sanctions are directed to the gas pumped into Italy, this sanction is like shooting ourselves in the foot," he told the Financial Times.
Italy gets natural gas from Libya through the Greenstream pipeline. Scaroni suggested the crisis in Libya would be over in about a year but short-term problems were at the forefront of his thinking.
"I am still not worried about the future," he told the newspaper. "I'm worried about the present because the political situation in Libya is difficult, there is no possibility of producing (resources) in Libya and, as a consequence, the only activity we do is to protect our installations there."
